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Pastor. 

Letters  to  a  recent  convert! 


^-^^^ 


LETTERS 


A  EECENT  COXVEET 


BY  A  PASTOR, 


If  we  only  saw  the  whole,  we  would  see  that  the  Father  is  doing  little 
else  in  the  world  hut  training  his  vines.— McChetne. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
PRESBYTERIxVN  BO.IRD  OF  PUBLICATION, 

No.    265   CUESTNUT    STREET. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1S53,  by 

A.   W.   MITCHELL,  M.  D. 

In  the  0£&ce  of  the  Clerk  of  the  District  Court  for  the  Eastern 
District  of  Pennsylvania. 


Stereotyped  bySLOTE  &  M  coney,  Philadelphia. 
W  u,    S  .    M  A  R  T I  E  N ,  Printer. 


f 


CONTENTS. 

LETTERI. 

ON     STEDFASTNESS. 

Page 
Acting  from  Principle — Cultivation  of  Conscience — De- 
pending on  external  Helps — The  Feelings — The  Heart 

Fixed 9 

LETTER  II. 

ON    WATCHFULNESS. 

Motives — Keeping  the  Heart — Unceasing  Vigilance — 
Ethelred  the  Unready  —  Christian  and  his  Roll — 
Bosom  Sins  —  Little  Sins — Only  once — Wandering 
Thoughts 17 

LETTER  III. 

,  ON    REPENTANCE. 

Need  of  Discrimination  —  Remorse — Fear  of  punish- 
ment— Genuine  Repentance — Ezekiel's  River — Job — 
David — Peter — The  Prodigal — The  Publican — Neces- 
sity of  Daily  Repentance  ....  24 

LETTER   IV. 

ON     FAITH. 

Faith  the  root-grace — Simple — no  Mystery — Trustful 
Disposition — Historical  Faith — Saving  Faith — A  Sub- 
ject of  Prayer — not  Meritorious — "  Just  as  I  am."  31 

LETTER  V. 

ON    ASSURANCE. 

Different  Opinions — Assurance  of  Understanding — of 
Faith — of  Hope — Witness  of  the  Spirit — Hodge,  Wit- 
sius — a  Privilege — Duty  to  strive  for  it — Prayer  of 
Faith — Looking  for  Answers        .        -        .        _  38 

LETTER  VI. 

ON     HOLINESS. 

Relative  Holiness — Dark  Ages — Heart  Holiness — Scrip- 
ture Language — Usher's  Definition — a  gradual  Work 
— Encoui-agemeuts  to  persevere       -        -        -        -     46 

(iii) 


IV  CONTENTS. 

LETTER  VII. 

ON    ELECTION. 

Free  Agents — Blan  in  the  River — God's  Plan — None 
saved  unless  He  purposes  to  save  them — Caricatures — 
Salvation  of  Infants — Epitaph — Duty  plain — Decrees 
not  revealed — Likelihood  of  repenting  if  this  doctrine 
is  not  true — The  initiative  with  God        .        .        _      62 

LETTER  VIII. 

ON    PRAYER. 

Hours  of  Prayer — Colonel  Gardiner  —  Collecting  our 
thoughts — The  Bible  furnishes  matter  for  Prayer — 
Praying  aloud — Spirit  of  Prayer — Praying  for  others — 
Wings  of  the  Soul        ------         60 

LETTER  IX. 

ON    THE     SCRIPTURES. 

Two  Mongol  Tartars — Scriptures  clear — Aid  of  the  Holy 
Spirit — Read  Regularly — not  as  a  Task — in  course — 
with  Dictionaries  and  Commentaries — in  a  Devotional 
Spirit— Chrysostom — Byron's  lines         -         -         -         66 
LETTER   X. 

ON    READING. 

We  are  as  our  Books — Goethe — List  of  Books — What 
not    to    read — Light    Reading —  The    dying   Novel 
Reader — Deadening  effect  of  Novel  Reading  on  Re- 
ligion —  Goldsmith's    Opinion —  Moore — Macready — 
Schiller — Instances        -        -        -        -        -        -       72 

LETTER  XI. 

ON     DO  ING     GOOD. 

Object  of  Existence — being  good  and  kind — speaking 
in  favour  of  Religion — writing  to  Friends — Books — 
Church — Sabbath-schools —  Children — Opportunity — 
Mather — Martyn — Sins  of  Omission        .        -        -       79 
LETTER  XII. 

ON    JEStrS     ONLY. 

Jesus  in  the  Pulpit — in  Redemption — Feelings  not  to 
be  put  in  the  place  of  Christ — Comfort  wanted  with- 
out Christ —  Ordinances — Forms — Duties — Troubles 

.     — Death— Meditations  of  heaven        -        .        -  84 


€n  mi;  BiitigljtBrs, 

FOR   WHOSE    USE    THE    FOLLOWING    PAGES   WERE 
ORIGIN  ALLY,   IN    PAKT,   DESiaNED, 

THIS    'WORK 

BY 

THE    AUTHOR. 


(v) 


ADVERTISEMENT. 


DuRiXG  a  season  of  religious  interest,  last 
year,  among  the  people  of  his  charge,  the 
author  found  himself  unable  to  devote  to  con- 
verts the  attention  which  they  needed,without 
neglecting  another  interesting  class  of  per- 
sons, whom  he  was  labouring  to  bring  into  the 
fold.  That  he  might  give  to  all,  therefore, 
"  a  portion  in  due  season,"  he  employed  the 
pen  as  well  as  the  pulpit.  Such  was  the  ori- 
gin of  these  letters.  Printed  at  first  for  pri- 
vate and  local  circulation,  they  are  now  pre- 
sented to  the  public,  with  large  additions. 
The  suggestions  contained  in  them  are  the 
result  of  experience,  and  are  thought  to  have 

(vii) 


VIU  ADVERTISEMENT. 

been  found  useful.  May  they  prove  increas- 
ingly useful,  and  tend  to  promote  the  Mas- 
ter's honour,  and  the  edifying  of  his  dear 
people. 

New  Brunsioich,  N.  J.,  Jan.  17,  1853. 


y^/^^/p^y^ 


^^t^^t^ 


LETTERS 


A    RECENT    CONVERT, 


LETTER  I. 

ON     STEDFASTNESS. 


Acting  from  Principle — Cultivation  of  Conscience — De- 
pending on  external  Helps — The  Feelings — The  Heart 
fixed. 

My  Dear  Friend: — I  am  happy  to  find 
that  you  have  the  spirit  of  Caleb,  and  are  de- 
termined to  follow  the  Lord  fully.  I  hope 
you  will  prove  a  growing  Christian  ;  that  you 
will  grow  wiser,  holier,  and  more  useful,  every 
day  you  live.  Although  the  church  of  Lao- 
dicea  has  long  since  become  extinct,  some  of 
its  members  appear  to  be  lingering  among  us 
still.  You  may  have  seen  some  of  them 
yourself;  professors  of  religion  who  made  no 
more  progress  than  a  door  on  its  hinges  ;  who 

(9) 


10  STEDFASTNESS.        "" 

were  never  getting  colder  or  hotter ;  wlio  were 
always  very  much  the  same ;  and  of  whom 
the  most  you  could  say,  was,  that  they  did 
not  absolutely  retrograde.  Contented  with 
doing  no  harm,  neither  did  they  do  any  good. 
But  in  such  a  lukewarm  state  it  was  impos- 
sible for  them  to  enjoy  religion.  They  had 
only  enough  of  it  to  make  them  uneasy. 

Let  your  aims  and  your  character  be  of  a 
very  diiFerent  stamp.  I  hope  you  will  tak-e  a 
good  start,  for  everything  depends  on  the 
beginning.  You  now  feel  the  warmth  of  a 
first  love ;  you  wonder  that  you  could  have 
been  stupid  and  insensible  so  long ;  and  you 
would  not  give  up  your  present  satisfaction, 
resolutions  and  hopes,  for  the  world.  You 
may,  however,  be  tempted  to  remissness, 
against  which  it  is  well  to  put  you  on  your 
guard. 

You  may,  for  example,  become  engaged 
with  worldly  business  or  worldly  people. 
You  may  be  sensible  of  the  danger  to  which 
it  exposes  you,  without  exactly  knowing  what 
you  should  do  to  prevent  it,  and  to  keep  your- 
self from  being  drawn  away  by  the  current 


STEDFASTNESS.  11 

of  worldllness  against  which  so  much  is  said 
by  the  apostle  John.  1  John  ii.  15,  16. 

Or  you  may  lose  in  some  degree  the  ab- 
sorbing interest  you  lately  felt,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  novelty  wearing  off,  and  your 
becoming  familiarized  to  devotion  or  duty  in  a 
formal  sort  of  way ;  and  you  even  now  feel 
half  alarmed,  lest,  after  all,  your  emotion 
should  prove  but  a  passing  excitement,  and 
you  should  be  in  danger  of  going  back  to  the 
world. 

In  either  or  both  of  these  cases,  let  me 
suggest  to  you  the  advantage  of  acting  ha- 
bitually from  principle.  Frames  and  feelings 
will  vary,  and  you  are  to  expect  that  you 
will  sometimes  feel  warmer,  sometimes  not  so 
warm.  But  if  you  act  from  principle,  it  will 
give  a  beautiful  consistency  and  symmetry  to 
your  character.  Examine  whether  a  thing  is 
right,  and  then  do  it  because  it  is  right,  and 
not  because  you  happen  to  feel  inclined  to  do 
it ;  and  if  you  know  it  is  right,  do  it,  al- 
though you  should  feel  at  the  moment  as  if 
you  would  rather  let  it  alone.  This  is  acting 
from  principle. 


12  STEDFASTNESS. 

That  was  an  admirable  resolution  of  a  cer- 
tain eminent  Christian,*  that  he  would  do  in 
his  worst  frames  what  he  had  decided  on  in 
his  best. 

"  It  is  good  that  the  heart  be  established 
with  grace."  And  you  are,  in  Scripture  lan- 
guage, "a  novice,"  "or  neophyte,"  1  Tim. 
iii.  6,  i.  e.  newly  planted  in  the  Lord's  vine- 
yard, and  not  yet  firmly  established.  In- 
dolence and  activity  you  will  find  to  be  two 
conflicting  principles  of  your  nature.  Vic- 
tory often  hovers  uncertain  on  which  stand- 
ard to  perch.  Remember  that  a  religious 
life  is  truly  a  conflict,  but  there  is  no  ro- 
mance about  it.  Early  learn,  then,  to  adopt 
a  sober,  chastened  wisdom ;  and  fall  into  the 
steady,  regular,  measured  step  of  a  deter- 
mined traveller  to  Zion.  The  Christian  life 
is  made  up,  like  every-day  life,  of  a^,serie3 
of  little  things;  and  it  is  the  aggregate  of 
these  little  things  that  swells  them  into  im- 
portance. 

Christian  people  are  too  apt  to  be  irregular 
in  matters  of  duty.     They  omit  or  abridge 
*  McCheyne. 


STE  DFASTNESS.  13 

• 

tlieir  morning  and  evening  devotions ;  they 
stay  away  from  religious  meetings,  or  are 
tardy  in  their  attendance ;  they  permit  indif- 
ference to  creep  over  them  like  the  green 
mantle  of  the  slimy  pool;  they  grow  more 
and  more  conformed  to  the  world  in  dress 
and  manners  ;  they  betray  a  want  of  punc- 
tuality or  exactness  in  affairs  of  conscience 
when  the  interests  of  other  persons  are  con- 
cerned; they  are  negligent  of  their  promi- 
ses, and  say  too  often,  before  the  angel, 
"it  was  an  error."  Eccl.  v.  6.  Now,  you 
should  cultivate  your  conscience.  It  should 
be  quick,  tender,  and  sensitive  as  the  apple 
of  the  eye,  which  cannot  bear  the  slightest 
grain  of  dust,  and  rests  not  till  it  has  wept  it 
out.  Your  conscience  should  be  exercised, 
by  reason  of-  use,  to  discriminate  between 
evil  and  good. 

Another  too  common  fault  is  to  depend 
on  external  helps.  Some  persons  are  con- 
tinually craving  excitement,  or  at  least,  they 
long  to  feel  happy  and  comfortable.  They 
praise  the  sermon  that  warms  them  up  in 
their  pew,  or  the  prayers  and  the  music  that 
2 


14  STEDFASTNESS. 

carry  off  their  feelings  above  the  dust  of  the 
earth  in  the  chariots  of  Amminadib,  (Sol. 
Song  vi.  12,)  and  they  go  away,  and  say  with 
gusto,  "  That  was  a  good  meeting !"  They 
are  taken  up  with  their  own  comfortable 
frames,  to  the  utter  forgetfulness  of  active 
duties.  It  is  a  fine  thing  to  be  listening  to 
zealous  sermons  and  beautiful  hymns,  and  to 
abandon  one's  self  to  a  voluptuous  reverie,  a 
spiritual  epicurism  ;  but  there  will  be  time 
enough  in  heaven  for  enjoyment.  Labour, 
work,  activity,  is  the  order  of  the  day  now. 
"  Why  stand  ye  here  all  the  day  idle  ?  Go 
ye  also  into  the  vineyard."  Matt.  xx.  6,  7. 

It  is  unhappy  when  any  are  disappointed  in 
the  gratification  or  stimulus  expected.  Either 
they  are  tempted  to  find  fault  with  the  dull- 
ness of  preachers  instead  of  the  dullness  of 
their  own  spirit.  They  ought  to  look  at  home, 
and  examine  whether  there  was  any  deficiency 
in  the  preparation  of  the  heart.  Or  else 
they  sink  down  into  contented  apathy,  and 
lose  all  interest  in  religion.  In  such  persons 
there  is  a  lack  of  steady  principle  ;  there  is 
an  excess  of  impulsiveness ;  there  is  too  much 


StEDFASTNESS.  15 

that  is  periodical  and  spasmodic.  We  ought 
never,  when  duty  calls,  to  ask  whether  (to 
borrow  a  cant,  but  common  phrase,)  "  we  feel 
like  it ;"  but  we  should  gird  up  our  loins  and 
do  it. 

That  the  feelings  ought  to  be  enlisted  in 
religion  is  most  true.  "  It  is  good  to  be 
zealously  affected  in  a  good  thing."  And  if 
religion  is  not  a  good  thing,  what  is?  Do 
not  understand  me,  therefore,  as  discounte- 
nancing raised  and  earnest  feeling.  Feel  as 
deeply,  feel  as  tenderly,  as  your  heart,  pene- 
trated by  views  of  Scripture  truth,  is  capable 
of  feeling ;  only  let  principle  accompany  it. 
The  ebullition  of  feeling,  or  animal  excitement, 
is  no  criterion  of  grace,  unless  attended  by 
amendment  of  the  life.  If  there  is  religious 
principle  at  bottom,  it  will  surxdve  a  tempo- 
rary flutter  of  the  animal  spirits  ;  the  blos- 
soms may  fall,  but  the  fruit  will  ripen. 

The  worldly  crowd  may  be  fickle  and  rest- 
less as  the  chaff  and  the  thistledown,  which 
are  the  sport  of  every  wind  ;  they  may  re- 
semble the  fluctuating  sea,  vexed  and  churned 
by  tempests  ;  but  for  you,  let  your  mind  be 


16  STEDFASTNESfe. 

made  up,  let  your  heart  be  fixed,  Psa.  cviii.  1. 
Set  your  face  like  a  flint,  Isaiah  1.  7.  Like 
the  sea-girt  cliff,  round  which  the  tempest 
and  the  waves  beat  in  vain,  let  nothing  move 
you,  so  that  you  may  finish  your  course  with 
joy.  Acts  XX.  24. 


LETTER  II. 

ON     WATCHFULNESS. 

Motives — Keeping  the  Heart — Unceasing  Vigilance — 
Ethelred  the  Unready — Christian  and  his  Roll — Bo- 
som Sins  —  Little  Sins  —  Only  once  —  Wandering 
Thoughts. 

My  Dear  Friend  :  —  Nearly  allied  to 
Constancy  is  Watchfulness.  The  Scriptures 
abound  in  injunctions  to  be  vigilant.  They 
present  a  variety  of  motives,  as  our  liability 
to  temptation  ;  the  incessant  assaults  of  the 
arch-adversary  of  souls  ;  the  uncertainty  of 
the  hour  of  Christ's  coming ;  the  danger  of 
remissness ;  and  the  blessedness  of  being 
always  ready. 

"  Keep  thy  heart,"  said  the  wisest  of  men, 
*'  with  all  diligence,  for  out  of  it  are  the 
issues  of  life."  The  words  are  literally, 
"  with  all  keeping,"  all  kinds  of  keeping,  and 
at  all  times.  It  must  be  a  universal  and 
unintermitted  vigilance.  Keep  this  heart  of 
yours  as  a  castle,  which  has  its  weak  points ; 
2*  (17) 


18  WATCHFULNESS. 

which  is  beleaguered  by  foes  not  to  be  de- 
spised; and  what  is  worse,  which  contains 
within  its  walls  treacherous  inmates.  What 
a  task  has  the  commander  !  He  must  be  at 
his^post  night  and  day ;  he  must  set  double 
guards ;  he  must  trust  to  no  inspection  but 
that  of  his  own  sleepless  eye.  Keep  it  as  a 
casket  containing  a  precious  jewel.  Put  it 
under  lock  and  key.  How  suspicious  would 
you  be,  if  you  detected  any  one  lurking 
about  the  vicinity,  and  coveting  the  treasure  ! 
Keep  it  as  a  vineyard.  Hedge  and  wall  it 
in ;  extirpate  every  noxious  weed,  every  root 
of  bitterness ;  water  and  tend  it  well ;  rear 
the  lodge  and  the  tower  in  the  midst ;  and 
look  that  the  wild  beasts  out  of  the  forest 
devour  it  not.  Keep  it  as  a  torch,  which  is 
to  light  you  over  a  difficult  route.  How  ten- 
derly should  you  shield  it  from  the  wind  and 
the  rain,  that  you  may  not  grope  in  inextri- 
cable error !  Keep  it  as  a  harp,  ever  in 
tune;  always  ready  to  send  forth  delicious 
strains  of  music,  to  please  the  ear  of  God 
and  man.  How  mortifying  would  it  be,  just 
at  the  moment  when  expectation  is  awake,  to 


WATCHFULNESS.  19 

have  to  mourn  in  shame  defects  which  should 
have  been  repaired  long  before  ! 

You  should  maintain  a  strict  watch  over 
every  thought  and  every  wish,  and  hold  the 
budding  properfsities  in  check  before  they 
grow  to  the  maturity  and  strength  of  pas- 
sions. A  trifling  divergence  at  the  opening 
of  the  angle  will  in  time  extend  the  poles 
apart.  A  fault  in  a  seal  or  a  type  may  be 
small,  but  it  perpetuates  itself  in  every  fresh 
impression  ;  so  if  every  time  we  think  on  a 
particular  subject,  our  thoughts  are  wrong, 
the  total  amount  will  become  formidable. 

And  this  watch  must  be  unceasing,  for 
you  cannot  pronounce  at  what  hour  it  will  be 
safe  to  relax.  Babylon  paid  dearly,  by  its 
subjugation,  for  one  night  only  of  revelry 
and  carelessness.  Watch  well  your  heart; 
guard  the  citadel  of  your  most  precious 
'hopes ;  and  let  neither  presumptuous  indo- 
lence nor  carnal  security  lull  you  into  fatal 
slumber. 

Be  not  like  the  easy  monarch,  styled  from 
his  miserable  habits,  Ethelred  the  Unready ; 
but  place  that  illustrious  veteran  of  the  cross 


20  WATCHEULNESS. 

in  your  eye,  who  could  say,  '*'  I  have  finished 
my  course,  I  have  kept  the  faith." 

You  remember  poor  Christian's  mishap  in 
the  Pilgrim's  Progress.  After  much  toil  he 
fell  fast  asleep  in  a  pleasant  arbour,  and  his 
roll  dropped  out  of  his  hand.  When  he  after- 
wards resumed  his  journey,  he  suffered  much 
for  want  of  his  roll,  and  had  to  retrace  many 
a  weary  step  to  recover  it.  Then  he  went 
on,  bewailing  his  sinful  indulgence,  which  led 
him  to  sleep  in  the  daytime.  And  what  made 
his  case  more  trying  was,  that  he  was  belated 
in  consequence,  and  exposed  to  perils  from 
the  wild  beasts  prowling  round  at  night. 
Take  good  care  of  your  roll ;  for  you  are  to 
give  it  in  at  the  Celestial  gate,  as  the  token 
and  passport  of  a  true  pilgrinr. 

The  apostle  charges  us  to  be  on  our  guard 
against  the  sin  that  doth  so  easily  beset  us. 
Heb.  xii.  1.  Every  one  has  his  own  easily 
besetting  sin.  And  how  many  plausible  pre- 
tensions and  flattering  hopes 

''  One  cunning  bosom-sin  blows  quite  away  V 

And  how  men  will  plead  for  this  "  one  cun- 
ning bosom-sin!"     As  Lot  pleaded  forZoar, 


WATCHFULNESS.  21 

they  say,  "  Is  it  not  a  little  one  ?"  They 
will  even  redouble  the  appearance  of  strict- 
ness in  other  duties,  that  they  may  spare  this 
pet  sin,  this  darling  of  their  souls.  They  can- 
not bear  to  give  it  up.  Like  the  Syrian  cap- 
tain, they  want  to  make  a  sort  of  compromise 
with  God,  and  get  him  to  wink  at  their  bow- 
ing in  the  house  of  Rimmon. 

Or  they  say,  "  It  is  only  once  ;"  as  if  vice 
does  not  grow  by  what  it  feeds  on.  Falla- 
cious plea  !  Who  ever  stopped  with  a  single 
indulgence,  and  did  not  yearn  for  more,  and 
yet  more  ?  All  sin  is  of  an  intoxicating  na- 
ture, and  so  alters  the  system,  as  imperiously 
to  demand  fresh  stimulus.  As  St.  Augustine 
truly  says,  "  a  bad  habit  brings  on  a  fatal  ne- 
cessity." Habit  grows  stronger  with  each  repe- 
tition, and  becomes  at  last  irresistible  ;  as  the 
equestrian  of  the  circus  calls  out  to  lash  the 
horse  that  is  already  flying  with  him  round 
the  ring.  He  cannot,  dares  not,  stop.  Be- 
ware how  you  once  get  into  the  moral  mael- 
strom !  And  who  ever  knew  of  one  sin  liv- 
ing by  itself,  an  isolated  hermit  ?  No.  It 
must  co-exist  with  company.     Sin  is  grega- 


22  WATCHFULNESS. 

rious.  It  is  not  one.  Its  name  is  legion. 
Open  the  door,  ever  so  little,  and  a  troop 
rushes  in  !  Gen.  xxx.  11. 

Strangely  enough,  the  deluded  person  for- 
gets that  one  single,  solitary  sin  is  enough  to 
sink  to  ruin,  like  a  single  leak  in  a  ship  !  A 
thousand  may  do  it  more  rapidly,  but  not  more 
effectually.  Nip  sin  in  the  bud.  Set  your 
foot  on  the  young  cockatrice  in  the  egg,  and 
crush  it  before  it  is  hatched  into  full  grown 
'  vitality. 

Wandering  thoughts  form  another  great 
evil  against  which  you  should  watch.  They 
torment  the  pious  even  at  their  devotions. 
They  are  like  a  flight  of  voracious  birds,  or 
buzzing  flies,  lighting  on  the  sacrifice.  As 
soon  as  you  are  conscious  of  the  distraction, 
turn  away  your  thoughts,  and  endeavour  to 
confine  them  upon  the  duty  in  hand.  Vigor- 
ous efforts,  and  vigorous  efforts  alone,  will  be 
successful. 

Perhaps  this  may  remind  you  of  the  good 
man  who  denied  that  he  was  troubled  with 
wandering  thoughts.  "Well,"  said  another, 
"  the  next  time  you  go  to  your  devotions,  if 


WATCHFULNESS.  23 

you  have  not  a  single  wandering  thought, 
I'll  make  you  a  present  of  a  horse."  But 
when  they  met  again,  he  frankly  owned  that 
he  had  no  right  to  the  horse,  for  while  he  was 
praying,  he  could  not  help  thinking  whether 
the  saddle  would  go  along. 

"  I  compare  myself,"  said  John  Newton, 
"to  a  man  upon  his  knees  before  the  king 
pleading  for  his  life,  or  returning  thanks  for 
some  great  favour.  In  the  midst  of  his  speech 
he  sees  a  butterfly  ;  he  immediately  breaks 
off,  leaves  his  speech  unfinished,  and  runs 
away  to  catch  the  butterfly  !" 

The  whole  subject  is  treated  at  length  in 
Dr.  Alexander's  "  Thoughts  on  Religious  Ex- 
perience," chap.  xii.  pp.  179 — 182.  Happy 
is  the  man  who  can  truly  say  with  the  Psalm- 
ist, "  My  heart  is  fixed,  0  God,  my  heart  is 
fixed;  I  will  sing  and  give  praise.'' 


LETTER  III. 

ONREPENTANCE. 

Need  of  Discrimination  —  Remorse — Fear  of  punish- 
ment— Genuine  Repentance — Ezekiel's  River — Job — 
David— Peter — The  Prodigal — The  Publican — Neces- 
sity of  Daily  Repentance. 

My  Dear  Friend  : — You  will  find  it  use- 
ful, both  for  future  stability  and  present  sat- 
isfaction, to  learn  to  discriminate  between 
what  is  genuine  and  what  is  spurious  in 
religious  experience.  I  propose  to  drop  a 
few  hints  which  may  aid  you  in  this  work. 

Repentance,  as  well  in  the  order  of  nature 
as  of  time,  seems  to  occupy  the  advance-post 
in  the  list  of  spiritual  exercises.  Whether 
repentance  precedes  faith,  or  faith  precedes 
repentance,  (since  a  man  must  believe  that  he 
is  a  sinner  before  he  will  repent,)  or  whether 
this  precedence  varies  in  individuals  accord- 
ing to  their  different  characters  and  situations, 
have  been  mooted  points,  which  we  need  not 
now  decide.  It  is  sufficient  for  us  that  the 
(24) 


E  E  P  E  N  T  A  X  C  E  .  25 

Scriptures  represent  repentance  as  the  first 
step,  the  turning-point,  in  the  process  of  con- 
version. 

But  remorse  is  not  repentance.  Keen 
remorse,  such  as  the  dying  Randolph  felt, 
may  be  produced  by  considerations  which  are 
not  of  a  spiritual  nature  ;  such  as  the  loss  of 
reputation,  the  blight  of  exposure,  the  pres- 
sure of  distress,  the  recollection  of  mis-spent 
time,  the  apprehension  of  future  torment ; 
but  if  these  can  be  removed,  the  sorrow  will 
subside,  and  the  heart  relapse  into  its  wonted 
hardness  and  indifference.  A  heart-broken 
mourner  is  a  common  sight.  .  But  the  heart  is 
like  a  rock  of  ice,  which  may  be  broken  into  a 
thousand  pieces,  yet  remain  ice  still.  But  to 
be  at  once  broken  and  melted  beneath  the 
power  of  the  divine  word,  this  is  what  is 
needed. 

The  torments  of  conscience  and  the  terrors 
of  an  endless  hell  are  enough  of  themselves, 
upon  the  least  reflection,  to  harrow  up  the 
soul.  Any  one  who  allows  his  thoughts  to 
turn  in  this  direction,  may  well  be  seized  with 
alarm ;  may  be  filled  with  hatred  of  sin,  and 
3 


26  REPENTANCE. 

may  even  loathe  himself  bitterly  for  his  vile- 
ness.  But  suppose  some  cunning  Universal- 
ist  were  to  be  thrown  in  your  way,  who  would 
be  able  to  satisfy  you  that  future  judgment 
and  eternal  punishment  are  mere  figments, 
and  that  you  have  nothing  to  fear  from  a 
God  of  boundless  love  ;  or  if  justice  requires 
expiation,  that  every  sinner  suffers  an  ade- 
quate penalty  in  this  mortal  life ; — suppose 
that  you  could  be  imposed  upon  by  such 
plausible  views,  would  it  make  any  difference 
in  your  feelings?  Suppose  you  were  con- 
vinced there  is  no  hell  to  punish,  and  no 
devil  to  torment,  would  your  uncomfortable 
feelings  and  your  sorrow  for  sin  all  vanish 
away  ?  Or  do  you  feel  such  a  hatred  of  sin 
and  such  a  sense  of  its  pollution,  that,  inde- 
pendent of  punishment  or  reward,  you  would 
still  desire  to  be  rid  of  sin,  and  to  become 
pure  and  holy  ? 

Certainly,  although  these  awful  realities 
remain  true,  and  although  fear  and  hope  are 
legitimate  motives  to  action,  you  must  rise 
superior  to  merely  selfish  considerations.  You 
must  not  be  mercenary  or  venal.     Yours  must 


REPENTANCE.  2T 

not  be  a  religion  that  consists  more  in  the 
fear  of  the  devil  than  in  the  love  of  God. 
You  must  abhor  sin,  and  repent  of  it,  and 
forsake  it,  just  as  sincerely  as  if  there  was  no 
hell  to  punish  or  heaven  to  reward.  You  must 
hate  sin  because  it  is  odious  in  the  sight  of 
God,  and  all  holy  beings  ;  because  it  is  hate- 
ful in  itself,  degrading  and  polluting  ;  and 
because  it  was  the  occasion  of  the  Saviour's 
sufferings.  Until  you  have  such  views  and 
feelings,  your  repentance  is  inadequate.  It 
stops  short  of  the  gospel  standard.  It  is  a 
legal,  not  an  evangelical  repentance.  It  may 
be  remorse,  but  it  is  not  contrition. 

The  mystic  stream  which  the  prophet  was 
bidden  to  ford,  (Ezek.  xl\di.  1 — 5,)  reached 
at  first  only  up  to  his  ancles,  then  it  was  up  to 
his  knees,  then  it  rose  breast-high,  "  for  the 
waters  were  risen,  waters  to  swim  in,  a  river 
that  could  not  be  passed  over."  Ancle-deep 
religion  will  never  take  us  to  heaven.  Such 
shallow  feelings  are  of  no  service.  Unless  we 
are  brought  to  our  knees,  there  is  no  en- 
couraging symptom.  But  when  the  tide  of 
deep  emotion  reaches  our  hearts,  then  indeed 


28  KEPENTANCE. 

do  we  taste  of  the  spirit  of  heaven.  Then 
penitence  is  succeeded  by  joy,  and,  like  the 
dying  Payson,  we  swim  in  a  sea  of  rapture 
that  words  cannot  express. 

Would  you  see  a  true  penitent  who  mourns 
and  detests  his  sins,  and  feels  an  honest 
desire  to  relinquish  them  ?  Behold  Job  in 
the  bitterness  of  his  soul  making  confession  : 
"  I  have  sinned  ;  what  shall  I  do  to  thee,  0 
thou  Preserver  of  men  ?  I  have  heard  of  thee 
by  the  hearing  of  the  ear,  but  now  mine  eye 
seeth  thee  ;  wherefore  I  abhor  myself  and 
repent  in  dust  and  ashes." 

Behold  David,  the  king  of  Israel,  his  pa- 
lace, his  crown,  his  royal  robes,  all  forsaken 
and  forgotten,  pouring  out  upon  his  bended 
knees  the  compunction  of  his  soul :  "  Have 
mercy  upon  me,  0  God,  according  to  thy 
loving-kindness  ;  according  unto  the  multi- 
tude of  thy  tender  mercies  blot  out  my  trans- 
gressions. For  I  acknowledge  my  transgres- 
sions ;  and  my  sin  is  ever  before  me." 

And  who  is  that  stealing  along  by  the  cor- 
ner of  the  high  priest's  palace  in  the  gray  of 
the  morning,  weeping  bitterly  ?  It  is  Peter, 
smitten  to  the  heart  for  his  unworthy  denial 


REPENTANCE.  29 

of  liis  Lord,  and  melted  by  that  sorrowful, 
reproving  glance. 

And  yonder  see  the  prodigal  returning, 
and  in  spite  of  his  rags,  his  father,  who  had 
descried  him  afar  off,  runs,  and  falls  on  his 
neck,  and  kisses  him,  while  in  broken  words 
he  sobs  out,  "  Father,  I  have  sinned  against 
heaven,  and  in  thy  sight,  and  am  not  worthy 
to  be  called  thy  son ;  make  me  as  one  of  thy 
hired  servants  !" 

And  yet  again  ;  observe  that  humble  publi- 
can, standing  afar  off  in  the  temple-court, 
without  resenting  the  contempt  of  the  lordly 
Pharisee  who  elbows  him  to  one  side.  His 
streaming  eyes  are  cast  down  to  the  ground, 
and  he  smites  his  breast  with  his  hand,  as  he 
utters  one  brief  but  earnest  supplication, 
*'  God  be  merciful  unto  me  a  sinner  !" 

Such  is  true  repentance.  "  God  layeth 
the  beams  of  his  chambers  in  the  waters.'' 
Psa.  civ.  3.  "  The  foundations  of  spiritual 
joy,"  says  Henry,  ^'  are  laid  in  the  waters  of 
penitential  tears.  That  comfort  is  likely  to 
last,  which  follbws  deep  humiliation  and  con- 
trition of  soul  for  sin." 
3* 


30  K  E  P  E  N  T  A  N  C  E. 

And  this  kind  of  repentance  must  be  prac- 
tised daily ;  inasmuch  as,  in  this  state  of  im- 
perfect sanctification,  we  sin  daily.  We  are 
not  to  imagine  this  duty  ends  with  our  con- 
version. On  the  contrary,  the  same  model 
of  prayer  which  teaches  us  to  say,  "  Give  us 
this  day  our  daily  bread,"  also  puts  into  our 
mouths  the  words,  "  Eorgive  us  our  trespas- 
ses." So  far  from  thinking  that  repentance 
is  a  duty  confined  to  the  unconverted  alone, 
the  true  Christian,  whose  conscience  is  culti- 
vated and  sensitive,  will  most  deeply  deplore 
his  shortcomings,  and  humble  himself  conti- 
nually before  God.  In  Henry  Martyn's  diary 
you  will  find  an  entry  to  this  efi'ect — "This 
day  I  had  a  sweet  season  of  bitter  repent- 
ance." 


LETTER  IV. 


ON    FAITH 


Faith,  the  root-grace — Simple — no  Mystery — Trustful 
Disposition — Historical  Faith — Saving  Faith — A 
Subject  of  Prayer — not  Meritorious — "Just  as  I 
am/' 

My  Dear  Friexd — The  importance  of 
Faith  in  the  Christian  scheme  is  very  great. 
It  is  represented  in  the  Scriptures  as  a  cardi- 
nal and  indispensable  point.  In  fact,  till 
Christianity  appeared,  faith  was  not  recog- 
nized as  a  prime  element  in  religion  at  all. 
Heathenism,  it  has  been  well  said,  had  no 
faith,  because  it  had  no  truth.  But  in  the 
gospel  system  faith  is  fundamental ;  faith  is 
the  root-grace. 

The  faith  which  the  Scriptures  require- 
must  necessarily  be  very  simple,  since  it  is 
required  of  all  classes,  conditions,  and  ages 
of  mankind.  Some  writers,  imagining  from 
its  importance  in  the  scale  that  its  dignity 

(31) 


32  FAITH. 

must  be  enhanced  by  a  certain  degree  of  mys- 
tery and  difficulty,  have  done  their  best  to 
shroud  the  subject  in  fog,  "darkening  coun- 
sel by  words  without  knowledge."  But  the 
gospel  was  not  written  for  scholars  and  the 
learned—''  unto  the  poor  the  gospel  is  preached" 
— and  it  must  of  course  be  preached  in  terms 
level  to  the  comprehension  of  all.  What  are 
the  terms  of  the  gospel  ?  They  are  but  these 
two — repent  and  believe.  So  short  and  so 
simple  are  they  that  a  child,  an  illiterate  ne- 
gro, a  dying  person  whose  mind  is  enfeebled 
as  well  as  his  body,  are  competent  to  under- 
stand and  embrace  them.  "The  wayfaring 
man,  though  a  fool"  in  book-learning,  "shall 
not  err  therein." 

There  is  no  mystery  in  the  exercise  of  be- 
lief on  all  ordinary  subjects  of  human  testi- 
mony. We  believe,  without  hesitation,  the 
word  of  any  credible  witness.  It  would  be 
deemed  the  height  of  absurdity  in  the  travel- 
ler, the  child,  the  invalid,  the  jury,  or  the 
army,  to  insist,  as  a  preliminary  step,  on  a 
lucid  definition  of  faith — all  its  phases  and  va- 
rieties, its  essence  and  its  objects.     In  ordi- 


FAITH.  33 

nary  life  everybody  understands  what  it  is  to 
believe.  Is  it  not  strange,  that  as  soon  as  the 
term  is  introduced  into  religion,  it  should  be 
enveloped  in  obscurity  ?  It  is  this  perversity 
of  men  that  compels  ministers  to  be  at  great 
pains  to  disentangle  the  naked  truth  from  its 
complicated  wrappings,  and  restore  it  to  its 
original  and  scriptural  simplicity.  The  main 
difficulty  arises,  not  so  much  from  the  myste- 
rious nature  of  the  subject,  as  from  an  indis- 
position to  believe.  From  the  moment  you 
have  a  genuine  and  sincere  desire  to  believe, 
faith  is  easy.  We  readily  believe  that  which 
we  wish  to  believe.     "While  on  the  contrary, 

"  He  that^s  convinced  against  his  will, 
Is  of  the  same  opinion  still." 

Let  it  then  be  borne  in  mind,  that  besides 
the  conviction  produced  by  testimony,  there  is 
included  a  trustful  disposition.  There  must 
be  a  willingness  to  believe.  It  is  not  said, 
Believe  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ — but.  Believe 
on  him  ;  or  again.  Believe  in  him.  Language 
could  not  more  emphatically  signify  the  idea 
of  trust. 


34  FAITH. 

Tills  leads  to  a  discrimination  between  his- 
torical and  saving  faith.  You  believe  that 
such  a  man  as  Julius  C^sar  once  lived,  and 
that  there  is  such  a  country  as  China ;  but 
you  never  received  any  benefit  from  Julius 
Csesar,  neither  do  you  expect  to  visit  China. 
Of  course,  your  heart  is  perfectly  indifferent 
to  one  and  the  other.  It  is  a  matter  of  no 
consequence  to  you  whether  the  information 
be  true  or  not.  You  feel  no  interest  in  it. 
To  the  historical  fact  you  assent,  but  you 
have  no  enthusiasm  upon  the  subject.  In  the 
same  manner  you  have  been  brought  up  to 
believe  that  Jesus  Christ  lived  and  died,  and 
that  there  is  such  a  place  as  heaven.  But  if 
you  have  no  personal  interest  in  Jesus  Christ, 
as  a  sinner  longing  to  be  saved  by  him,  and 
if  you  feel  no  anxiety  to  get  to  heaven,  these 
truths  affect  you  no  more  than  the  existence 
of  China  or  of  Julius  C?esar.  It  is  as  much  a 
historical  faith  in  the  one  case  as  in  the  other, 
and  no  more. 

To  believe  Jesus  Christ,  his  existence,  his 
truth,  his  gospel,  in  a  historical  way  ;  and  to 
believe  on  him  as  your  own  personal  Saviour, 


FAITH.  35 

to  whom  you  owe  everything,  and  whom  you 
should  love  enthusiastically  and  devotedly, 
are,  you  perceive,  two  very  diiferent  matters. 
Oh,  have  you  this  saving  faith,  or  is  your 
faith  a  mere  barren  historical  assent,  floating 
in  the  head,  but  never  tvarming  the  life-blood 
of  your  heart?  Do  you  believe  the  gospel 
just  as  you  believe  the  newspaper  ?  or  do  you 
go  farther,  and  believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus 
as  the  Saviour  of  the  world,  and  your  Sa- 
viour ?  Do  you  believe  simply  because  your 
fathers  believed,  and  as  they  believed,  and 
because  you  have  been  brought  up  to  believe  ? 
or  has  the  gospel  come  to  you  "  not  in  word 
only,  but  in  power?"  The  habit  of  taking 
opinions  on  trust,  fend  never  thinking  for  our- 
selves, would  make  very  respectable  Turks 
of  us,  had  we  by  chance  been  born  in  Turkey 
instead  of  Christendom. 

Conscious  of  the  paramount  necessity,  there- 
fore, of  a  good  disposition,  pray,  in  the  lan- 
guage of  the  father  in  M&rk,  "  Lord,  I  be- 
lieve, help  thou  my  unbelief!"  and  in  the 
language  of  the  disciples,  ''  Lord,  increase  our 
faith  I"     The  evidence  is  abundant,  we  need 


86  FAITH. 

not  ask  the  Lord  to  give  us  more,  but  the  will 
to  receive  what  evidence  there  is.  The  fault 
and  the  deficiency  are  subjective  altogether. 
Here  comes  in  most  beautifully  the  doctrine 
of  the  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Just 
at  the  point  where  we  feel  that  we  need  a  su- 
pernatural power  to  help  us,  just  there  it  is 
promised  to  our  prayers.  A  Saviour  and  a 
Holy  Spirit  leave  us  nothing  further  to  desire. 

"  The  Spirit  our  petition  writes, 
And  Christ  receives  and  gives  it  in." 

And  for  the  exercise  of  faith  do  you  claim 
merit  ?  Look  at  that  wretch  sinking  in  the 
river.  A  rope  is  thrown  Jo  him,  just  as  he  is 
going  down.  He  seizes  it,  and  is  drawn  safe 
to  land.  But  no  sooner  does  he  find  himself 
on  shore,  than  he  comes  to  you,  dripping  as 
he  is,  and  asks  to  be  paid  for  taking  hold  of 
the  rope.  Would  you  think  he  was  sane? 
Or  would  you  think  the  beggar  any  better, 
who  counts  it  a  great  merit  that  he  holds  out 
his  hand  to  receive  the  piece  of  money  you 
drop  into  it  ? 


FAITH.  37 

*  Just  as  I  am — -without  one  plea, 
But  that  thy  blood  was  shed  for  me, 
And  that  thou  bidst  me  come  to  thee, 
0  Lamb  of  God,  I  come  ! 

Just  as  I  am — and  waiting  not 
To  rid  my  soul  of  one  dark  blot. 
To  thee,  whose  blood  can  cleanse  each  spot, 
0  Lamb  of  God,  I  come! 

Just  as  I  am — though  tossed  about 
With  many  a  conflict,  many  a  doubt, 
Fightings  within,  and  fears  without, 
0  Lamb  of  God,  I  come  ! 

Just  as  I  am — poor,  wretched,  blind ; 
Sight,  riches,  healing  of  the  mind. 
Yea,  all  I  need,  in  thee  I  find, 

0  Lamb  of  God,  I  come  ! 

Just  as  I  am — thou  wilt  receive  ; 
Wilt  welcome,  pardon,  cleanse,  relieve; 
Because  thy  promise  I  believe, 

0  Lamb  of  God,  I  come ! 

Just  as  I  am — thy  love  unknown 
Has  broken  every  barrier  down  ; 
Now,  to  be  thine,  yea,  thine  alone, 
0  Lamb  of  God,  I  come  I" 


LETTER  V. 


ON   ASSURANCE. 


Differept  Opinions — Assurance  of  Understanding — 
of  Faith — of  Hope — Witness  of  the  Spirit — Hodge, 
Witsius — a  Privilege — Duty  to  strive  for  it — Prayer 
of  Faith — Looking  for  Answers. 

My  Dear  Friend — You  desire  to  know 
whether  personal  assurance  is  necessary.  Dif- 
ferent opinions  have  been  entertained  among 
divines  on  this  subject.  Some  writers,  as 
Marshall,  Anderson,  Wesley,  and  Malan,  have 
laid  great  stress  on  personal  assurance  as  a 
duty.  Others  look  on  it  not  so  much  as  a 
duty  as  a  privilege.  While  we  all  ought  to 
strive  for  it,  and  while  it  is  attainable  by  all, 
("  every  one  of  you,"  Heb.  vi.  11.)  it  cannot 
be  denied  that  some  of  the  best  Christians 
that  have  ever  lived  have  not  enjoyed  it.  I 
think  I  have  known  some  such  persons,  whose 
piety  was  doubted  by  none  but  themselves. 
(38) 


ASSURANCE.  39 

All  revealed  truth  is  an  object  of  faith; 
but  assurance  of  personal  salvation  is  nowhere 
revealed,  and  never  has  been  revealed  to  any 
one  except  the  penitent  thief;  therefore  it  is 
no  object  of  saving  faith.  When  it  is  said, 
"  Thou  shalt  be  saved,"  it  is  conditional  upon 
believing  in  the  Lord  Jesus.  It  is  not  there- 
fore a  personal  revelation,  but  a  conditional 
grant.  The  promise  is  made  not  to  indivi- 
duals, but  to  a  class  defined  by  certain  char- 
acteristics. Whoever  belongs  to  that  class  is 
sure  of  the  promise. 

There  are  three  sorts  of  assurance  men- 
tioned in  the  Scriptures :  the  assurance  of 
understanding^  Col.  ii.  2  ;  the  assurance  of 
faith,  Heb.  x.  22,  and  the  assurance  of  hope, 
Heb.  vi.  11.  Of  these  that  of  understanding 
is  the  lowest,  and  that  of  hope  the  most 
exalted. 

By  the  assurance  of  understanding  is  to  be 
understood  a  clear,  satisfactory,  and  implicit 
conviction  of  the  truth  of  the  gospel,  and  of 
the  gospel  system,  its  facts,  its  doctrines,  its 
miracles,  its  prophecies.  The  man  that  has 
this  assurance  is  raised  above  the  region  of 


40  ASSURANCE. 

doubt,  however  he  may  have  doubted  before. 
His  mind  reposes  with  satisfaction  on  the  con- 
clusions he  has  reached.  He  is  in  no  danger 
from  scepticism  or  from  fatal  heresy.  His 
greatest  danger  henceforth  will  be  on  the  side 
of  formalism.  This  state  of  mind  is  the  as- 
surance of  understanding.  It  is  altogether 
of  an  intellectual  character. 

The  assurance  of  faith  goes  a  step  beyond 
this.  It  is  of  a  practical  and  experimental 
nature.  It  receives  the  truth  not  only  with- 
out doubts,  but  receives  it  cordially.  It  is  a 
faith  that  works  by  love.  There  may  be 
doubts  of  personal  salvation,  through  misap- 
prehension, through  fear  of  unworthiness, 
through  depression  of  spirits,  and  sometimes 
through  sympathetic  weakness  or  derange- 
ment of  the  bodily  system,  but  there  is  a  full 
persuasion  of  the  certainty  of  salvation  to  all 
that  lay  hold  on  Christ,  and  a  desire  and  wil- 
lingness to  be  one  of  the  number  so  saved. 
And  this,  I  apprehend,  is  the  general  feeling 
of  Christian  people. 

The  assurance  of  hope  transcends  both  the 
former.     It  is  a  pleasing  and  confident  expec- 


ASSURANCE.  41 

tation  of  salvation,  and  of  going  to  heaven, 
"whicli  is  as  natural  as  for  a  man  that  has  deci- 
ded on  a  summer  excursion,  to  think  of  the 
manner  in  which  he  shall  spend  his  time,  or 
the  mode  of  conveyance  that  is  to  transport  him. 
This  persuasion  is  not  grounded  on  any  delu- 
sive, enthusiastic  or  superstitious  foundation, 
but  on  rational  and  scriptural  evidences. 

*'  The  Spirit  itself  beareth  witness  with  our 
spirit,  that  we  are  the  children  of  God."  Rom. 
viii.  16.  Edwards,  and  others  after  him,  in- 
terpret this  as  a  comparison  of  our  own  state 
with  the  description  of  the  Christian  graces 
in  the  New  Testament.  The  two,  description 
and  reality,  correspond  together,  just  as  our 
two  hands  match,  when  laid  side  by  side.  But 
as  the  same  Spirit  wrought  the  one  which  de- 
scribed the  other,  it  is  the  witness  of  the 
Spirit  with  our  spirits.  This  is  at  least  clear, 
intelligible,  and  free  from  all  approach  to  en- 
thusiasm. Such  a  comparison  every  believer 
ought  to  draw;  and  all  feelings,  emotions, joys, 
and  raptures  which  do  not  co-exist  with  it,  or 
■which  will  not  stand  the  application  of  such 
a  test,  should  be  rejected  as  spurious. 
4  * 


42  ASSURANCE. 

But  I  am  led,  from  my  own  reflections 
upon  this  subject,  and  from  the  concurrent 
opinions  of  such  judicious  writers  as  Calvin, 
Witsius,  and  Dr.  Hodge,  to  think  that  there 
is  something  more.  A  comparison,  such  as 
has  been  mentioned,  is  an  isolated  testimony, 
the  testimony  of  our  own  consciences,  inde- 
pendent of  any  direct  act  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
I  am  disposed,  therefore,  to  agree  with  Dr. 
Hodge,  when  he  says  "  there  are  two  distinct 
sources  of  confidence"  (see  Com.  on  Rom,  viii. 
16) ;  and  with  Witsius,  when  he  says,  "  There 
is,  moreover,  an  internal  instiiict,  which  no 
human  language  can  explain.  And  the  Spirit 
of  God  excites  generous  emotions,  and  the 
sweetest  raptures  and  consolations,  which  can- 
not be  supposed  to  flow  from  any  other  than 
a  divine  source."  (Covenants,  III.  xi.)  Some 
appear  to  err  in  confining  assurance  to  the 
comparison  above  alluded  to,  thus  making  the 
operation  exclusively  intellectual.  Is  it  ne- 
cessary for  a  child  to  test  his  filial  feelings  by 
a  diary  ?  or  does  a  patriot  deliberately  sit 
down  to  consult  a  civic  barometer,  before 
either  will  indulge  the  natural  emotions  of 


ASSURANCE.  43 

gladness  that  well  up  and  fill  their  hearts  to 
overflowing  ?  Is  there  not  an  "  internal  in- 
stinct" that  tells  the  child  he  loves  his  parent, 
and  the  patriot  he  loves  his  country,  by  a 
shorter,  more  summary,  and  more  genial  pro- 
cess ?  Is  religion  a  matter  of  the  head  alone, 
and  not  also  of  the  heart  ? 

The  conclusion  we  come  to  is  briefly  this : 
The  assurance  of  understanding  is  intellec- 
tual, the  assurance  of  faith  is  experimental, 
and  the  assurance  of  hope  is  personal.  It  is 
our  duty  to  give  all  diligence  to  obtain  the 
latter  ;  but  the  actual  attainment  of  it  is  a 
privilege  enjoyed  by  comparatively  few.  (See 
Dr.  Scott's  Com.  on  Heb.  vi.  11.)  So  long, 
therefore,  as  you  have  a  prevailing  faith  in 
the  promises  of  God,  and  a  prevailing  desire 
to  be  conformed  to  his  will,  you  need  not  dis- 
tress yourself  for  the  want  of  an  exulting, 
rapturous,  and  undoubting  assurance  of  your 
personal  salvation.  "  Give  all  diligence"  to 
attain  it,  and  pray  for  increase  of  faith  and 
of  light,  and  for  more  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

Some  have  insisted  on  what  is  called  the 
jprayer  of  faith^  and  that  we  must  believe  that 


44  ASSURANCE. 

we  shall  receive  the  individual  thing  we  ask 
for.  But  faith  can  only  rest  upon  a  promise, 
either  express  or  implied.  Where  there  is  no 
such  special  promise,  there  can  be  no  right  to 
cherish  such  an  expectation.  Besides,  the 
prayer  of  faith  is  a  prayer  that  is  indited 
by  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  will,  of  course, 
be  for  things  agreeable  to  the  divine  will ; 
and  such  prayers,  being  prompted  by  God 
himself,  no  other  sort  of  prayers  will  naturally 
bring  with  them  an  answer.  But  we  have  no 
right  to  dictate  to  the  Almighty,  or.  Brahmin- 
like, to  ascribe  to  the  mere  act  of  prayer  a 
kind  of  semi-omnipotence.  Always  is  it  dec- 
orous to  put  in  the  proviso,  "  If  it  be  agreea- 
ble to  thy  will." 

There  is  no  doubt,  however,  that  we  pray 
with  too  little  of  a  realizing  sense  of  God's  be- 
ing a  prayer-answering  God.  We  pray,  and 
neglect  to  look  for  the  answers  to  our  prayers, 
as  the  ostrich  leaves  her  eggs  in  the  sand,  and 
abandons  them  without  another  thought.  This 
shows  formality,  and  want  of  earnestness. 
While  we  are  to  abstain  from  anything  that 
looks  like  dictating  to  God,  we  ought  to  bo 


ASSURANCE.  45 

earnest  and  sincere  in  our  petitions.  We 
cannot  honour  him  more  than  by  approaching 
his  mercy  seat  -with  raised  expectations  and 
enlarged  desires.  He  bids  us  open  our  mouth 
wide,  and  he  will  fill  it.  Psa.  Ixxxi.  10.  Pay- 
son  said  that  if  it  were  necessary  for  God's 
glory  and  his  good  that  he  should  have  two 
worlds,  he  would  ask  for  them  with  the  utmost 
confidence  that  they  would  be  granted. 


LETTER  VI. 


ON    HOLINESS. 


Relative  Holiness — Dark  Ages— Heart  Holiness — 
Scripture  Language — Usher's  Definition — a  gra- 
dual Work — Encouragements  to  persevere. 

My  Dear  Friend — As  we  found  there 
were  two  kinds  of  repentance  and  faith,  one 
genuine  and  the  other  insufficient,  so  we  find 
it  is  with  regard  to  holiness.  There  is  a  re- 
lative holiness,  and  there  is  heart-holiness. 

Relative  holiness  consists  in  separating 
things  from  a  common  to  a  sacred  use.  One 
day  is  no  more  holy  than  another,  but  after 
being  set  apart  to  religious  services,  it  is  dis- 
tinguished from  all  other  days  of  the  week. 
The  use  that  is  made  of  it  is  the  essence  of  the 
whole  matter.  This  is  the  kernel ;  the  rest 
is  the  shell,  mere  outside  work.  It  is  this 
relative  holiness  that  is  meant  when  you  read 
of  holy  vestments,  and  holy  temples  with 
(46) 


HOLINESS.  47 

their  sanctuaries.  Many  err  by  ignoring  any 
other  kind  of  holiness  than  this,  and  rest  sat- 
isfied with  external  rites  and  ceremonies,  holy 
days  and  holy  places,  as  if  they  had  fully 
complied  with  their  duty.  They  fancy  that 
if  they  were  to  die  any  moment,  a  holy  sign 
is  on  them,  and  all  is  safe.  They  forget  that 
baptisms,  and  crossings,  and  eucharists,  and 
acts  done  to  and  upon  the  body,  affect  the 
body  alone,  viewed  as  a  material  act ;  and 
consequently,  when  the  soul  is  separated  from 
the  body,  such  acts,  done  upon  the  body,  can 
by  no  means  affect  the  soul. 

In  the  dark  ages  this  superstition  was  car- 
ried to  great  lengths.  When  a  sinner  was  about 
to  expire,  his  friends  brought,  in  a  great  hurry, 
some  old  monk's  gown,  supposed  to  be  very 
holy  because  worn  by  a  saintly  man ;  and  in 
this  holy  garment  they  wrapped  the  dying  sin- 
ner, imagining  that  by  this  stratagem  they 
could  cheat  the  devil  when  he  came  after  the 
soul,  and  make  him  believe  it  was  not  a  wicked 
wretch,  but  a  holy  monk.  Nay,  such  was  their 
folly,  if  the  case  was  urgent,  and  they  could 
not. envelope  him  in  the  whole  garment,  that 


48  HOLINESS. 

they  thought  it  would  be  sufficient  if  they 
could  but  slip  his  arm  into  one  of  the  sleeves. 
An  easy  way  truly  of  getting  to  heaven ! 
One  hardly  knows  whether  to  sigh  or  to  smile 
over  such  instances  of  human  weakness. 

That  which  externals  but  typify  and  point 
to,  and  without  which  they  would  be  an  empty 
husk,  is  nothing  else  than  real  heart-holiness. 
It  is  a  release  from  the  dominion  and  power 
of  sin,  from  its  pollution  as  well  as  its  curse, 
from  its  stain  as  well  as  its  consequences.  It 
is  a  love  of  all  that  is  good,  and  virtuous, 
and  spiritually  excellent.  It  is  a  panting 
after  resemblance  to  the  pure,  immaculate, 
and  sin-abhorring  God.  The  holiness  of  the 
divine  nature  is  its  pattern  and  model,  as 
it  is  mirrored  in  the  word  and  law  of  God,  and 
as  it  is  visibly  and  impressively  exhibited  in 
the  spotless  character  of  the  blessed  Re- 
deemer, who  was  "  holy,  harmless,  undefiled, 
and  separate  from  sinners."  "  There  was  no 
guile  found  in  his  lips."  "  He  knew  no  sin," 
he  knew  not  how  to  sin,  and  in  him  even  the 
eye  of  Omniscience  detected  not  the  least 
flaw.  "  He  left  us  an  example  that  we  should 
•walk  in  his  steps." 


HOLINESS.  49 

The  Scriptures  speak  of  holiness  in  very 
strong  language,  and  language  that  implies 
the  necessity  of  arduous  effort ;  crucifixion  to 
the  world  ;  mortifying  (not  the  body,  but)  the 
deeds  of  the  body  ;  dying  unto  sin,  and  living 
unto  righteousness.  This  is  no  easy  task,  no 
child's  play,  no  amusement  of  mere  carpet- 
knights.  It  is  a  race,  a  conflict,  a  warfare. 
The  learned  and  pious  Usher  was  once  soli- 
cited to  write  a  treatise  on  sanctification. 
After  some  reflection  he  professed  his  incapa- 
city to  do  the  subject  justice.  The  more  he 
thought  upon  it,  the  more  its  magnitude  and 
importance  grew  upon  his  mind.  'Tor  what,'' 
said  he,  "  is  sanctification,  but  to  offer  one's 
self  a  whole  burnt-offering  in  the  flames  of 
love  upon  the  altar  of  God  ?" 

Sanctification  is,  in  this  life,  a  gradual  and 
a  partial  work.  AVhile  I  would  not  discourage 
you  by  demanding  a  perfection,  at  the  very 
thought  of  which  you  are  unnerved,  I  do  not 
hesitate  to  urge  you  unremittingly  to  endea- 
vour to  attain  maturity  and  ripeness  of  Cliris- 
tian  experience. 

Are  you  striving  to  gain  the  ascendency 
5 


60  HOLINESS. 

over  sin,  and  are  you  making  some  progress 
in  the  work  ?  Do  you  say,  "  I  mourn  that  I 
have  advanced  so  little,  and  am  so  far  removed 
from  what  I  ought  to  be  ?  It  is  my  daily 
lamentation  that  I  can  trace  so  little  of  the 
image  of  God  in  my  character.  Yet  I  do 
long,  and  pray,  and  strive  to  be  more  weaned 
from  the  world,  and  to  be  more  conformed  to 
the  divine  likeness."  Are  such  the  confes- 
sions you  sigh  forth?  God  forbid  that  I 
should  drop  one  word  to  add  unnecessary 
pain,  or  by  ill-timed  severity  to  drive  you  to 
despondency  or  despair.  It  is  one  of  the 
most  delightful  parts  of  ministerial  duty  to 
comfort  God's  people,  and  to  imitate  the  mild 
discretion  of  Him  who  will  not  break  the 
bruised  reed,  nor  quench  the  smoking  flax. 

While,  then,  it  must  be  admitted  that  it  is 
desirable  for  you  to  assume  a  firmer  port  and 
a  more  confident  tone,  yet  would  I  not  dis- 
courage you,  but  the  reverse.  We  are  autho- 
rized to  believe  that  such  feelings  as  those 
just  described  never  sprang  from  earth,  but 
are  to  be  referred  to  the  grace  of  God.  The 
seed,  though  small  as  "  a  grain  of  mustard- 


HOLINESS.  51 

seed,"  or  however  tardy  in  germinating  and 
bearing  fruit,  is  yet  "  the  incorruptible  seed 
of  the  word  of  God,  which  liveth  and  abideth 
for  ever."  It  was  lodged  in  your  bosom  by 
no  mortal  hand.  Persevere,  continue  to  la- 
bour, endeavour  to  "grow  in  grace  and  in 
the  knowledge  of  your  Lord  and  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ,"  and  "be  not  weary  in  well 
doing,  for  in  due  season  you  shall  reap  if  you 
faint  not." 


LETTER  VIL 


ONE  LECTION. 


Free  Agents— Man  in  the  River — God's  Plan — None 
saved  unless  he  purposes  to  save  them — Carica- 
tures— Salvation  of  Infants — Epitaph — Duty  plain 
— Decrees  not  revealed — Likelihood  of  repenting  if 
this  doctrine  is  not  true — The  initiative  with  God. 

My  Dear  Friend — You  are  perplexed 
about  the  doctrine  of  election.  You  com- 
plain of  its  being  a  stumbling-block  in  your 
way.  It  is  worth  while  to  pay  some  atten- 
tion to  the  subject. 

God  has  constituted  us  moral  agents.  A 
free  agent  is  one  who  can  do  what  he  wants 
to  do.  God  has  endowed  us  with  perception, 
judgment,  conscience,  and  will.  But  there 
is  no  self-determining  power  in  the  will.  He 
has  made  us  susceptible  of  the  force  of  moral 
motives,  and  it  is  in  view  of  motives  that  the 
will  freely  decides.  He  has  made  us  volun- 
tary and  accountable  agents.  Our  own  ex- 
(52) 


ELECTION.  53 

perience  attests  it.  Ko  reasoning,  however 
subtle,  can  shake  our  sense  of  it.  Every 
pulse  and  fibre  in  our  frame  cry  out  that  it  is 
so.  Every  sinner  knows  that  he  sins  most 
freely,  and  because  he  wants  to  sin,  and  not 
because  any  one  forces  him  to  do  it.  Every 
Christian  knows  how  freely  he  acted  in  all 
the  steps  of  his  conversion.  His  own  con- 
sciousness bears  witness  to  the  truthfulness 
of  the  direction,  "  Work  out  your  own  salva- 
tion with  fear  and  trembling ;  for  it  is  God 
that  workcth  in  you  both  to  will  and  to  do  of 
his  good  pleasure."  God  will  not,  we  may  be 
sure,  in  the  business  of  conversion,  violate 
the  natural  laws  which  he  has  himself  estab- 
lished, or  operate  on  our  hearts  contrary  to 
their  moral  constitution.  We  cannot  so 
grossly  have  misunderstood  our  consciousness 
and  his  word. 

How  then,  you  ask,  is  election  compatible 
■with  free  agency  ?  How  can  we  choose,  when 
all  the  choosing  is  on  the  part  of  God  ?  Some 
are  so  staggered  by  it,  and  have  so  insuper- 
able a  prejudice  against  the  very  word,  (and 
often  against  nothing  but  the  word,)  that 
6* 


54  ELECTION. 

they  cannot  be  persuaded  to  take  a  step  fur- 
ther. They  resemble  a  man  in  the  middle  of 
a  river,  to  whom  a  rope  is  thrown,  but  he  Avill 
not  touch  it,  till  he  is  satisfied  how  it  got 
there,  of  what  it  is  made,  and  where  the  per- 
son was  born  who  has  hold  of  it.  "Never 
mind  that,"  he  is  told,  "you  are  in  danger  of 
your  life;  take  hold  of  the  rope!"  "No!" 
he  replies,  "I  will  not  till  I  am  satisfied. '^ 
"  Then  you  must  go  down,"  is  the  answer. 
And  he  goes  down,  to  rise  no  more. 

God  has  a  plan  by  which  he  works,  else  he 
would  be  inferior  in  wisdom  to  the  creatures 
he  has  made,  not  only  to  men,  but  to  ants 
and  beavers.  And  in  the  prosecution  of  his 
plan,  he  works  by  means,  as  he  instructs  us 
in  his  revealed  w^ord.  We  find  both  moral 
agency  and  divine  purpose  taught  in  the 
Scripture,  and  we  so  receive  them.  We  can- 
not explain  or  reconcile  them  to  our  entire 
satisfaction.  We  are  content  to  take  them 
as  we  find  them.  We  know  that  if  God  has 
no  intention  to  save  any  of  the  race,  then 
none  can  have  any  assured  hope  of  salvation. 
All  may  be  lost,  and  the  Saviour  will,  in  that 


ELECTIOX.  55 

event,  have  died  in  vain.  But  we  believe  if 
any  of  us  are  saved,  it  will  be  because  in  liig 
sovereign  mercy  he  purposed  to  save  us ;  and 
if  any  are  lost,  it  will  be  because  they  were 
suffered  to  go  on  in  their  sins.  None  will  be 
lost  that  did  not  deserve  to  be  lost.  None 
will  be  saved  but  through  the  undeserved 
mercy  of  God.  And  this  is  the  whole  and 
entire  doctrine  of  election,  or  predestination, 
or  divine  purpose,  which  is  such  a  bugbear  to 
many. 

Those  who  make  a  caricature  of  the  views 
of  our  church  on  this  subject,  take  special 
care  to  omit  her  distinct  recognition  of  "  the 
nature  of  second  causes,  either  necessarily, 
freely,  or  contingently  ;"  (Conf.  of  F.  v.  2. ;) 
of  God  being  in  no  sense  "  the  author  of 
sin ;"  (Conf.  of  F.  v.  4 ;)  and  of  all  that  perish, 
perishing  not  in  consequence  of  an  arbitrary 
reprobation,  but  ^' for  their  sin,"  (Conf.  of 
F.  iii.  7.)  To  leave  out  all  these  qualifica- 
tions, and  then  make  a  scare-crow  of  the  doc- 
trine, is  uncandid  and  unfair  in  the  extreme. 

They  tell  you  that  we  teach  there  are  in- 
fants in  hell  a  span  long.     Do  not  believe  a 


56  ELECTION. 

word  of  it.  It  is  a  vile  and  unmitigated  slan- 
der. I  unequivocally,  in  behalf  of  all  my 
brethren,  disavow  and  deny  it,  as  well  as 
every  other  perversion,  fathered  on  us,  that 
makes  God  a  tyrant.  Such  misrepresenta- 
tions can  have  originated  only  in  the  grossest 
ignorance,  or  the  most  hostile  malignity,  or 
both.  Dismiss  this  objection  from  your  mind 
at  once,  and  for  ever.  It  is  not  worth  enter- 
taining. .  We  believe  that  dying  infants  have 
the  stain  of  original  sin  washed  away  by  the 
blood  of  Christ,  and  that  otherwise  they  could 
not  take  part  in  the  new  song.  On  no  other 
ground  can  we  prove  their  admission  to  hea- 
ven at  all.  The  following  beautiful  epitaph, 
by  Mr.  Robinson  of  England,  exhibits  the 
views  of  Calvinists  with  strict  correctness  : 

"  Bold  Infidelity,  turn  pale,  and  die  ! 
Beneath  this  stone  four  infants'  ashes  lie : 

Say,  are  they  lost  or  saved  ? 
If  death 's  by  sin,  they  sinned  because  they  're  here ; 
If  heaven  's  by  works,  in  heaven  tliey  can't  appear: 

Reason,  ah !  how  depraved  ! 
Revere  the  Bible's  page  ;  the  knot 's  untied  ; 
They  died,  for  Adam  sinned ; — they  live,  for  Jesus 
died.'' 


ELECTION.  57 

Why  does  any  one  dislike  the  doctrine  of 
the  divine  purpose  ?  Conceive  it  set  aside. 
Is  not  repentance  a  scriptural  doctrine  ?  Why 
do  you  not  repent  ?  Is  not  regeneration  a 
scriptural  doctrine  ?  Why  are  you  not  con- 
verted ?  Is  not  faith  a  scriptural  doctrine  ? 
Why  do  you  not  believe?  If  you  repent, 
believe,  and  are  converted,  you  may  be  as- 
sured of  salvation;  election,  or  no  election. 
Whether  this  doctrine  is  true  or  not,  you 
must  repent,  believe  and  be  converted,  or  you 
never  -will  be  saved.  If  you  do  not  think 
your  heart  so  desperately  wicked  as  to  require 
a  God  to  change  it,  prove  it  by  becoming  a 
Christian ;  or  else  do  not  blame  us  for  think- 
ing that  you  need  a  supernatural  assistance. 

Who  knows  anything  of  the  decrees  of 
God  ?  The  only  decree  that  he  has  revealed 
is  one  that  we  are  all  concerned  with,  "  He 
that  believeth  shall  be  saved,  and  he  that  be- 
lieveth  not  shall  be  damned."  In  these  words 
you  see  the  character  you  must  possess  if  you 
would  get  to  heaven.  You  may  endeavour, 
as  Nettleton  said,  to  effect  this  on  the  easiest 
terms  you  can  find  out  from  the  Scriptures ; 


58  ELECTION, 

only  secure  the  grand  result.  If  you  truly 
repent,  and  the  doctrine  of  election  be  true, 
it  can  do  you  no  harm.  But  whether  it  be 
true  or  not,  your  duty  is  plain ;  you  must  re- 
pent, believe,  and  be  converted,  or  you  are 
lost  for  ever ! 

Only  one  thought  more  let  me  leave  with 
you,  as  an  inducement  to  cease  relying  on 
your  own  strength,  and  to  cry  mightily  to 
God  to  help  ypu.  Since  you  must  repent  or 
perish,  what  reason  have  you,  judging  from 
your  past  experience  and  your  past  success, 
to  suppose  you  ever  will  repent,  if  the  doc- 
trine of  election  is  not  true  ?  "  0  Lord," 
cried  the  Psalmist,  "pardon  mine  iniquity, 
for  it  is  great."  Psa.  xxv.  11.  So  great  is 
our  guilt,  that  we  can  do  nothing  ourselves 
for  its  removal ;  so  great  is  it,  that  if  left 
to  ourselves,  we  can  have  no  hope ;  so  great 
is  it,  that  unless  God  have  mercy  on  us,  we 
are  undone!  "Not  that  we  loved  God," 
says  the  apostle,  "  but  that  he  loved  us,  and 
sent  his  Son  to  be  the  propitiation  for  our 
sins."  1  John  iv.  10.  "Not  that  we  loved 
God ;"  no  !  we  hated  him,  we  resisted  him 


ELECTION.  59 

with  all  our  might ;  all  we  asked  was,  with 
Ephraim,  ^'Let  us  alone!"  Had  the  initia- 
tory step  depended  on  us,  we  must  have 
perished  for  ever.  Blessed  be  his  name,  he 
did  not  leave  us  to  ourselves ;  "  we  love  him," 
continues  the  apostle  just  quoted,  "because 
he  first  loved  us."  1  John  iv.  19. 


LETTEE  VIII, 


ON   PRAYER. 


Hours  of  Prayer— Col.  Gardiner— Collecting  our 
thoughts — The  Bible  furnishes  matter  for  Prayer 
— Praying  aloud — Spirit  of  Prayer — Praying  for 
others — Wings  of  the  Soul. 

My  Dear  Friend — Prayer  without  watch- 
ing is  superstition ;  watching  without  prayer 
is  presumption. 

Pray  regularly  at  least  twice  a  day.  On 
no  account  omit  it.  Take  advantage  of  the 
earliest  opportunity  upon  rising,  before  the 
world  has  a  chance  to  distract  your  thoughts. 
And  neglect  not  the  duty  in  the  evening, 
when  you  are  about  to  commit  yourself  to  that 
slumber,  which  is  so  like  death  that  it  should 
not  be  trusted  without  prayer.  That  exem- 
plary Christian,  Col.  Gardiner,  when  he  was 
to  march  before  daybreak,  made  a  point  of 
rising  still  earlier  to  have  time  for  reading 
and  prayer.  If  you  find  that  you  are  gene- 
(60) 


PRAYER.  61 

rally  fagged  out  at  bed- time,  you  had  better 
select  an  hour  in  advance,  and  devote  a  fe^v 
minutes  to  this  exercise  when  you  are  more 
fresh  and  wakeful.  Sleepy  prayers  never 
rise  high. 

Call  to  mind  before  you  kneel  down,  that 
you  are  now  going  into  the  presence  of  the 
heart-searching  God ;  the  creature  is  about 
to  meet  his  Creator,  the  friend  is  about  to 
meet  his  Friend,  the  needy  his  Benefactor, 
the  child  his  Father.  Pause,  and  try  to  feel 
as  you  ought. 

Think  beforehand  what  you  will  say.  Be 
not  rash  with  thy  mouth  to  utter  anything 
before  God.  Eccl.  v.  2.  See  if  there  is  not 
some  special  need  that  rises  uppennost.  It 
may  be  that  you  feel  most  the  pressure  of 
sin  ;  pray  then  for  the  pardon  of  sin.  It  may 
be  that  you  long  for  more  holiness ;  let  that 
be  the  burden  of  your  petitions.  It  may  be 
that  you  feel  you  are  such  a  poor  creature 
that  you  are  always  doing  something  wrong ; 
pray  then  for  an  increase  of  strength.  It 
may  be  that  the  predominant  desire  that 
rises  to  your  mind,  is  that  your  companion, 
6 


62  PRAYER. 

your  brother,  your  sister,  your  bosom  friend, 
may  be  converted.  Bring  them  in  the  arms 
of  your  faith,  and  lay  them  down  at  the  feet 
of  Jesus.  Whichever  of  these  or  like  feel- 
ings is  most  prominent,  allot  it  the  chief 
place  in  your  petitions. 

It  will  be  well,  to  give  unity  and  directness 
to  your  meditations,  as  well  as  to  put  words 
into  your  mouth,  first  to  read  a  passage  of 
the  Bible.  This  will  settle  and  compose  your 
mind.  If  you  feel  at  a  loss  for  matter  of 
prayer,  take  up  verse  by  verse,  and  use  it  in 
a  devotional  manner.  Let  it  be,  for  example, 
the  first  Psalm,  "Blessed  is  the  man  that 
walketh  not  in  the  counsel  of  the  ungodly.'^ 
Turn  it  into  a  petition  thus  :  "  0  Lord  !  may 
I  be  thus  blessed  !  keep  me  from  walking  in 
the  counsel  of  the  ungodly  !"  "  But  his  de- 
light is  in  the  law  of  the  Lord."  "Lord! 
help  me  to  delight  in  thy  law  !"  Or  let  it  be 
the  second  chapter  of  1  John.  "  And  if  any 
man  sin  we  have  an  advocate  with  the  Father, 
Jesus  Christ  the  righteous."  "Blessed  Je- 
sus !  be  my  advocate  with  the  Father,  and 
procure  the  pardon  of  my  sins !'' 


PRAYER.  63 

It  is  not  necessary  to  particularize  further. 
You  catch  the  idea.  Let  me  then  advise  you, 
in  order  to  furnish  yourself  with  copious  ma- 
terials and  language  for  prayer,  to  read  not 
only,  but  also  to  commit  to  memory,  large 
portions  of  Scripture.  You  will  find  them 
especially  useful  at  times  when  you  are  un- 
able to  read,  when  you  are  sick,  or  travelling, 
and  your  memory  may  serve  you  instead  of  a 
book.  The  book  of  Psalms  is  recommended 
to  us  by  apostolic  example  as  a  manual  of  de- 
votion. The  xxiil,  II,  and  ciii  Psalms,  are 
pre-eminently  suitable  to  be  impressed  on  the 
memory. 

Pray  aloud  or  in  a  whisper.  The  advan- 
tage of  this  is  to  keep  your  thoughts  collected. 
It  will  tend  to  banish  wandering  thoughts, 
and  concentrate  the  attention. 

Endeavour  to  maintain  the  spirit  of  prayer. 
On  all  trying  occasions  have  your  mind  in  a 
frame  or  readiness  to  pray.  That  is  what 
the  apostle  means,  when  he  says,  "  Pray  with- 
out ceasing."  If  sudden  temptations  present 
themselves,  cry  inwardly,  "  0  Lord,  preserve 
me  from  sin !"     "  0  Lord,  direct  me  to  the 


64  PRAYER. 

best  course  to  pursue  !"  "  Preserve  me  from 
anger,  and  liastj  words !  Let  me  not  lose 
mj  temper !"  This  is  called  ejaculatory 
prayer  ;  because  we  ejaculate  or  dart  upwards 
our  messages  to  heaven,  and  thus  make  known 
our  pressing  wants. 

Pray  for  others.  Christianity  is  not  self- 
ish. If  you  always  think  of  yourself,  and 
pray  only  for  yourself,  it  will  not  be  wonder- 
ful if  you  are  in  darkness  half  the  time. 
When  the  Rev.  Mr.  Beecher,  of  Shepherds- 
town,  Va.,  (now  deceased,)  was  in  Princeton 
Seminary,  he  fell  into  great  doubt  as  to  his 
spiritual  state,  and  even  entertained  thoughts 
of  giving  up  the  ministry.  Determined,  how- 
ever, if  he  could  not  be  heard  for  himself,  still 
to  pray  for  others,  he  presented  the  case  of 
the  unconverted  exclusively  before  the  mercy- 
seat.  From  that  moment  peace  revisited  his 
soul.  To  feel  for  others  is  the  best  exercise 
and  evidence  of  a  gracious  state.  1  John  iii. 
14.  The  petition,  "  Thy  kingdom  come  !" 
*'  precedes  the  petition,  "  Give  us  this  day 
our  daily  bread  !" 

Prayer   is   the   language   of    dependence. 


PRAYER.  05 

Did  you  ever  see  a  little  bird  -^hose  -wing?? 
"were  broken ;  how  it  fluttered,  and  tried  to 
fly,  but  tlie  poor  little  thing  always  came  to 
the  ground  ?  Prayer  and  faith  are  the  wings 
by  which  our  souls  rise  above  the  world  and 
mount  to  heaven.  If  either  of  them  fail,  it 
is  like  bruising  a  wing ;  we  creep  along,  we 
cannot  soar,  we  cannot  rise  to  God.  We  may 
conceal  our  mishap  by  sitting  still ;  but  if  a 
higher  flight  is  demanded,  our  crippled  condi- 
tion is  speedily  detected.  May  you,  my  friend, 
ever  have  the  eye  and  the  wing  of  an  eagle. 
Isa.  xl.  31. 

Prayer  is  the  Christian's  breath.  Live 
near  the  cross,  and  near  the  mercy-seat,  and 
you  will  live  near  the  gate  of  heaven. 

You  may  peruse  with  advantage  "VVatts's  or 
Bickersteth's  Treatises  on  Prayer. 

6* 


LETTER  IX. 


ON    THE    SCRIPTURES. 


Two  ]MoDgol  Tartars — Scriptures  clear — Aid  of  the 
Holj  Spirit — Read  regularly — not  as  a  Task — in 
course — with  Dictionaries  and  Commentaries — in  a 
Devotional  spirit — Chrysostom — Byron's  lines. 

Mt  Dear  Friend — I  was  once  very  much 
struck  with  an  incident  narrated  of  two  Mon- 
gol Tartar  chiefs.  It  seems  that  a  German 
clergyman  engaged  them  to  assist  him  in 
preparing  a  translation  of  the  gospels  into 
their  language.  At  length  the  task  was 
done,  the  last  correction  made,  and  the  book 
closed.  They  continued  sitting,  serious  and 
silent.  The  minister  inquired  the  cause,  and 
was  equally  surprised  and  delighted  to  hear 
both  avow  themselves  converts  to  the  truth 
of  the  blessed  volume.  "At  home,"  said 
they,  "  we  studied  the  sacred  writings  of  the 
Chinese,  and  the  more  we  read  the  obscurex' 
(66) 


THE     SCRIPTURES.  67 

they  grew.  But  the  longer  we  read  the  gos- 
pel, the  simpler  and  clearer  it  becomes ;  until 
at  last  it  seems  as  if  Jesus  was  talking  with 
us!" 

This  is  a  very  pleasing  tribute  to  the  ex- 
cellence of  the  sacred  Scriptures  ;  and  it  is 
just  such  as  might  be  expected  from  their 
natural  and  unpretending  style.  It  is  the 
unvarnished  style  of  truth,  and  therefore  it 
goes  straight  to  the  heart  at  once. 

When  once  it  enters  to  the  mind, 
It  spreads  such  light  abroad, 

The  meanest  souls  instruction  find, 
And  raise  their  thoughts  to  God. 

I  might  say  many  things  in  favour  of 
studying  the  Bible,  but  they  are  obvious,  and 
you  must  often  have  met  with  them.  What 
I  desire  in  these  letters  is  to  give  you  a  few 
plain,  simple,  practical  directions,  which  you 
are  not  likely  to  meet  elsewhere ;  yet  which, 
simple  as  they  are,  you  may  be  pleased  to  re- 
ceive, and  may  find  useful. 

The  first  thing  I  would  recommend  you  to 
do,   is   to   pray   for   the   assistance   of    the 


68  THE    SCRIPTURES. 

Holy  Spirit.  This  is  what  the  pious  psalmist 
did.  "  Open  thou  mine  eyes,  that  I  may 
behold  wondrous  things  out  of  thy  law !" 
This  short  verse  you  can  easily  repeat  when 
you  open  the  sacred  page.  Surely  you  re- 
cognize the  propriety  of  asking  the  divine 
Author  of  the  Bible,  to  help  you  to  under- 
stand what  he  has  inspired. 

Kegularly  read  a  portion  morning  and 
evening.  Let  nothing  prevent  your  daily 
devotion.  Try  to  make  everything  suit  in 
the  economizing  of  your  time,  to  secure  an 
opportunity  for  reading  and  prayer.  You 
think  it  hard  if  you  are  interrupted  in  taking 
your  three  daily  meals.  Will  less  than  two 
suffice  for  the  food  of  your  soul  ?  "  Evening, 
and  morning,  and  at  noon,  will  I  pray,  and 
cry  aloud ;  and  he  shall  hear  my  voice."  Psa. 
Iv.  17. 

Do  not  prescribe  any  given  number  of 
chapters  or  verses.  There  is  danger  of 
coming  to  look  on  it  either  as  a  merit  or  a 
task.  Read  as  much,  slowly  and  carefully, 
as  will  profit  you,  and  neither  more  nor  less. 

Read  in   course.      The   gospels,    epistles, 


THE    SCRIPTURES.  69 

and  Psalms,  are  considered  best  to  engage 
the  attention  of  a  person  whose  thoughts  are 
for  the  first  time  turned  to  religion.  But  as 
your  experience  enlarges,  jou  will  find  it  of 
use  to  read  the  other  books,  historical  and 
prophetical,  also.  The  historical  books  of  the 
Old  Testament  are  very  instructive.  Some 
read  the  Old  Testament  in  course  one  part  of 
the  day,  and  the  New  in  course  the  other 
part.  Others  read  regularly  through  from 
the  beginning.  If  you  read  the  New  Testa- 
ment first,  you  will  find  the  subsequent  study 
of  the  Old  throwing  great  light  upon  the 
New.  On  the  Sabbath  you  will  have  leisure 
to  read  a  larger  portion  than  on  week  days. 
On  the  Sabbath  the  sacrifices  were  doubled. 
Num.  xxviii.  9. 

Endeavour  to  understand  what  you  read. 
Provide  yourself  with  a  good  Bible  Diction- 
ary, and  a  good  Commentary.  Jacobus's 
Notes  on  Matthew  are  excellent,  and  will  no 
doubt  soon  be  followed  by  a  second  volume. 
Hodge's  Notes  on  Romans  is  a  standard 
■work,  and  will  ground  you  in  evangelical  doc- 
trine.    Keep  your  cars  open  also  to  the  ex- 


70  THESCEIPTURES. 

planations  of  difficult  passages  from  the  pulpit. 
And  whatever  you  read,  try  to  get  a  clear 
idea  of  its  meaning  and  connection.  A  little 
read  with  understanding,  will  do  more  good 
than  a  great  quantity  without. 

Read  in  a  devotional  spirit.  While  you 
should  familiarize  yourself  with  the  geogra- 
phy, the  antiquities,  and  the  criticism  of  the 
Bible,  you  should  above  all  bear  in  mind  the 
duty  of  reading  for  a  devotional  purpose. 
And  there  are  times  when  you  should  totally 
lay  aside  the  critic,  and  read  with  no  other 
view  than  this.  At  no  time  should  this  pre- 
dominant object  be  overlooked.  Bring  the 
verse  and  the  doctrine  home ;  make  it  a  per- 
sonal matter ;  apply  it  to  your  own  case. 
"  Sanctify  them  through  thy  truth."  John 
xvii.  17.  The  word  of  God  is  to  make  us 
holy.  Do  not  forget  this.  You  ought  to 
saturate  your  heart  with  its  spirit.  You 
should  remember  particular  passages  to  for- 
tify yourself  against  temptation.  "  Thy  word 
have  I  hid  in  my  heart,"  said  David,  "that 
I  might  not  sin  against  thee."  It  was  by 
nimbly  wielding  this  sword  of  the  Spirit,  our 


T  11  E    S  C  R  I  P  T  U  R  E  S  .  71 

Saviour  foiled  the  tempter.  "  It  is  written," 
retorted  he,  "it  is  written  !" 

Let  no  ordinary  cause  keep  you  from  your 
Bible  a  single  day.  You  would  think  it 
strange,  says  Chrysostom,  of  a  smith,  mason, 
or  carpenter,  to  sell  or  pledge  his  tools ;  now 
what  their  saw,  and  chisel,  and  hammer,  and 
axe  are  to  them,  the  Scriptures  are,  in  a  cer- 
tain sense,  to  you.  They  are  the  instruments 
of  your  salvation. 

The  following  lines  are  said  to  have  been 
written  on  the  fly  leaf  of  a  Bible  by  Lord 
Byron : 

Within  this  awful  volume  lies 
The  JMystery  of  Mysteries. 
Happiest  they  of  human  race, 
To  whom  their  God  hath  given  grace 
To  read,  to  learn,  to  mark,  to  pray, 
To  lift  the  latch,  and  force  the  way ! 
But  better  he  had  ne'er  been  born, 
"Who  reads  to  doubt,  or  reads  to  scorn ! 


LETTER  X, 


ON    READING 


We  are  as  our  Books — Goethe — List  of  Books — "What 
not  to  be  read — Light  Reading — The  dying  Novel 
Reader — Deadening  effect  of  Novel  Reading  on  Re- 
ligion— Goldsmith's  Opinion — Moore — Macready 
— Schiller — Instances. 

My  Dear  Friend — It  was  a  weighty  re- 
mark of  a  wise  man,  "  he  that  walketh  with 
the  wise  shall  be  wise ;  but  the  companion 
of  fools  shall  be  destroyed."  Books  are  the 
companions  of  our  private  hours,  and  we 
should  be  particular  about  the  sort  of  book 
we  take  to  our  bosom.  We  are  apt  to  catch 
the  spirit  of  the  writer,  and  to  adopt  insensi- 
bly his  way  of  thinking.  As  our  books  and 
newspapers  are,  so  are  we.  One  of  the 
maxims  of  the  celebrated  Goethe  was,  that 
we  ought  to  read  something  in  a  good  book 
every  day. 
(72) 


BEADING.  73 

Thanks  to  the  prohfic  press,  we  have  an 
abundant  supply  of  profitable  reading.  It  is 
not  easy  now  to  make  a  selection.  Allow  me 
to  enumerate  some  that  occur  to  my  mind. 
Waterbury's  Advice  to  a  Young  Christian  ; 
James's  and  Henry's  Anxious  Inquirer ; 
Hodge's  Way  of  Life  ;  Bunyan's  Pilgrim's 
Progress  with  Scott's  notes ;  Taylor's  Holy 
Living ;  Owen  on  Spiritual-mindedness ;  Be- 
thune's  History  of  a  Penitent ;  Doddridge's 
Rise  and  Progress ;  Scou^al's  Life  of  God  in 
the  Soul;  Baxter's  Saints'  Rest;  Wilberforce's 
Practical  View ;  Hannah  More's  Practical 
Piety,  and  Life  of  St.  Paul ;  Nevins's  Prac- 
tical Thoughts  ;  Alexander's  Religious  Expe- 
rience ;  Jay's  Exercises ;  Winslow's  Midnight 
Harmonies;  Winslow  on  the  Spirit,  and  on 
Declension ;  John  Newton's  Letters  ;  Hamil- 
ton's Life  in  Earnest,  and  Mount  of  Olives ; 
Lives  of  Martyn,  Richmond,  Payson,  Brain- 
erd,  McCheyne,  Isabella  Graham,  Mary  Lun- 
die  Duncan,  etc.  etc.  These  and  various 
other  like  works,  will  be  of  eminent  service 
in  informing  the  mind,  and  promoting  growth 
in  grace.  And  perhaps  I  might  add  to  the 
7 


74  BEADING. 

above,  although  they  are  of  a  purely  denomi- 
national cast,  Dr.  Miller's  Tracts  on  Pres- 
byterianism,  and  Baptism ;  and  a  recent 
work  by  a  Lady,  in  three  parts,  entitled 
"  Why  am  I  a  Presbyterian  ?"  It  is  well  for 
us  to  be  able  to  give  "  a  reason  for  the  hope 
that  is  within  us,  to  every  one  that  asketh  us, 
with  meekness  and  fear." 

And  while  I  venture  to  suggest  what  it  will 
be  edifying  to  read,  permit  me  to  drop  a  hint 
as  to  what  you  ought  not  to  read. 

There  is  a  species  of  literature  that  is 
every  where  to  be  met  with,  under  the  well- 
known  name  of  light  reading.  Scott  was  its 
Coryphoeus,  and  his  success  has  tempted  a 
thousand  imitations, 

"  In  one  weak,  washy,  everlasting  flood." 

You  meet  it  in  various  shapes  and  disguises ; 
the  two-volume  novel,  the  two -shilling  ro- 
mance, the  fashionable  monthly,  and  the 
trashy  tale  in  the  newspaper. 

Far  be  it  from  me,  in  a  spirit  of  fanatical 
bigotry,  indiscriminately  to  proscribe  all  fic- 
tion, when  Christ  employed  it  for  purposes 


READING.  Y5 

of  instruction  ;  or  to  refuse  to  the  overtasked 
mind  an  innocent  or  rational  recreation. 
Biit  I  must  be  allowed  to  say,  that  like  some 
of  the  medicines  of  the  pharmacopoeia,  this 
sort  of  reading  requires  a  great  deal  of  cau- 
tion. It  is  best  to  err  on  the  safe  side,  and 
to  take  too  little  rather  than  too  much.  I 
knew  a  lady  who  completely  used  up  her 
stock  of  sensibility,  by  devouring  novels  at 
the  rate  of  fifty  or  a  hundred  a  year ;  and 
when  she  came  to  a  dying  bed,  (and  it  was 
an  awful  one,)  her  complaint  was  that  she 
could  not  feel.  "  I  am  going,"  she  said  to 
me,  as  she  wildly  tossed  her  arms  and  her 
dishevelled  hair,  "  I  am  going,  and  without  a 
ray  of  hope  T' 

There  are  some  things,  as  Sue's  Wander- 
ing Jew,  and  Mysteries  of  Paris,  which  I  am 
not  ashamed  to  confess  I  know  only  by  repu- 
tation :  and  that  reputation  is  sufficient.  If 
for  "every  idle  word"  we  speak,  we  are  to 
give  an  account  in  the  day  of  judgment,  what 
is  to  be  done  with  the  idle  words  we  read  ? 
much  more,  with  what  is  really  reprehensible  ? 
Miss  Edgeworth's  Tales  are  probably  among 


76  READING. 

the  best ;  yet  so  good  a  man  as  Robert  Hall 
confessed,  that  it  was  some  time  before  he 
could  get  rid  of  the  benumbing  effect  they 
had  on  his  personal  piety.  The  reason  is  ob- 
vious ;  there  is  no  religion  in  them. 

Novel-reading,  loose  poetry,  and  theatrical 
entertainments,  should  be  shunned  by  all  who 
desire  to  cultivate  that  spiritual-mindedness 
""  which  is  life  and  peace,"  life  to  the  soul,  and 
peace  to  the  conscience.  Nor  let  any  one  de- 
nounce the  sentiment  as  narrow-minded  or 
puritanical.  The  heaviest  censures  upon  re- 
creations of  this  sort  come  from  the  authors 
themselves. 

Goldsmith,  himself  a  popular  novelist  and 
playwright,  gave  this  advice  about  the  educa- 
tion of  his  nephew.  "Above  all  things, 
never  let  your  son  touch  a  novel  or  romance. 
How  delusive,  how  destructive  are  those 
features  of  consummate  bliss !  They  teach 
the  youthful  to  sigh  after  beauty  and  happi- 
ness that  never  existed  ;  to  despise  the  little 
good  that  fortune  has  mixed  in  our  cup,  by 
expecting  more  than  she  ever  gave ;  and  in 
general — take  the  word  of  a  man  who  has 


READING.  77 

seen  the  world,  and  studied  it  more  by  expe- 
rience than  by  precept — take  my  word  for  it, 
I  say,  that  such  books  teach  us  very  little  of 
the  world." 

Add  to  this  testimony  the  pregnant  facts, 
that  Moore  kept  his  voluptuous  lines  from 
the  sight  of  his  own  daughters ;  and  that  the 
tragedian  Macready  has  never  allowed  his 
children  to  frequent,  or  even  to  see  the  inside 
of  a  theatre.  Are  not  these  men  good  au- 
thority ? 

But  we  are  not  left  to  theory  and  inference 
alone.  Schiller's  Robbers  tempted  so  many 
youths  to  the  highway,  that  the  Government 
had  to  forbid  the  representation.  For  a  like 
reason,  the  Beggars'  Opera  by  Gay  was  pro- 
hibited by  the  British  Government.  Even 
the  Chinese  authorities  have  discountenanced 
stage-plays,  as  tending  to  make  the  specta- 
tors adepts  in  vice.  Courvoisier,  who  mur- 
dered his  master,  was  an  admirer  of  Paul 
Clifford.  Lovet,  who  was  executed  at  Louis- 
ville, was  an  imitator  of  Jack  Sheppard. 
Poor  Spencer,  who  was  strung  up  to  the  yard- 
arm,  learned  his  lessons  out  of  the  Pirate's 
7* 


78  READING. 

Own  Book.  The  errors  of  the  unhappy  wo- 
man who  figured  in  the  Richmond  tragedy, 
which  terminated  in  her  own  disgrace  and  the 
death  of  her  lover,  were  traced  by  her  father 
to  her  passion  for  French  novels. 

A  Christian  who  enjoys  the  presence  of 
God,  is  superior  to  vulgar  excitements,  and 
tastes  a  peace  which  the  world  can  neither 
give  nor  take  away. 


LETTER  XI. 


ON"    DOING   GOOD. 


Object  of  Existence — being  good  and  kind — speaking 
in  favour  of  Religion — writing  to  Friends — Books 
— Church — Sabbath-schools — Children — Opportu- 
nity— Mather — Martyn — Sins  of  Omission. 

My  Dear  Friend — What  did  God  send 
you  here  to  do  ?  "What  does  he  delight  to  do 
himself?  What  did  the  Saviour,  whom  you 
love,  make  the  business  of  his  whole  life  ? 

You  may  do  good  by  being  good.  Ex- 
ample is  more  forcible  than  precept.  Be 
correct.  Be  conscientious.  Many  careless, 
though  well-meaning  persons,  are  sad  stum- 
bling-blocks. Be  respectful  to  your  parents 
and  to  the  aged.  Be  amiable.  Then  every 
body  will  love  you,  and  love  religion  for  your 
sake. 

You  may  do  good  by  being  kind  and 
benevolent.     If    any   one   is   sick,    whether 

(79) 


80  DOING    GOOD. 

acquaintances,  strangers,  or  the  poor,  you 
can  send  them  little  delicacies,  sit  up  with 
them  at  night,  and  if  you  visit  them,  talk 
cheerfully  with  them.  It  has  vexed  me  to  see 
people  come  into  a  sick  room,  and  tell  the  in- 
valid about  every  one  that  was  sick  or  dead  in 
the  neighbourhood.  Such  persons  are  walk- 
ing bills  of  mortality.  It  is  a  very  important 
thing  to  know  how  to  take  care  of  the  sick. 
You  should  find  out  and  relieve  the  poor, 
particularly  by  giving  or  procuring  them 
work.  You  should  not  only  aid  the  benev- 
olent societies,  but  have  a  little  charity-purse 
of  your  own.  James  ii.  16. 

You  can  drop  a  word  in  favour  of  religion. 
It  need  not  be  much.  It  should  not  be  for- 
mal. If  your  heart  is  engaged,  it  will  come 
easily  and  naturally ;  even  a  look  will  make 
an  impression.  What  you  say  should  be 
well-timed,  and,  in  general,  when  no  one  else 
is  by.  Most  persons  are  ashamed  to  be  spoken 
to  before  witnesses,  even  before  a  child.  Pride 
braces  them  up  immediately.  You  might 
merely  say,  "I  wish  you  were  a  Christian; 
you  would  be  so  much  happier."     Or,   "  I 


DOING    GOOD.  81 

"wish  jou  would  read  the  Bible  more  ;  I  am 
sure  you  would  be  benefitted."  A  word  in 
season,  how  good  is  it ! 

You  can  write  to  your  friends.  Introduce 
a  sentence  or  two,  which,  by  the  blessing  of 
God,  may  awaken  attention.  I  knew  a  re- 
markable instance  of  conversion  resulting 
from  a  letter  by  Mr.  Alexander,  now  a  mis- 
sionary in  the  Sandwich  Islands.  Another 
case  I  may  mention  was  this.  A  letter 
written  by  a  young  man  who  had  just  be- 
come pious,  was  received  by  his  friend  as  he 
was  on  the  point  of  going  to  the  opera.  He 
tarried  to  read  the  letter,  but  there  was  no 
opera  seen  by  him  that  night.  On  his  knees 
he  was  begging  the  pardon  of  his  sins. 

You  can  lend  or  present  interesting  reli- 
gious books.  The  first  is  perhaps  the  surest ; 
for  one  would  be  ashamed  to  return  a  book 
without  having  read  it,  and  it  can  go  through 
more  hands  in  this  way. 

You  should  persuade  your  companions  to 
go  to  church,  or  to  religious  meetings,  and  so 
bring  them  under  a  good  influence.  This  is 
a  duty  very  much  neglected. 


82  DOINGGOOD. 

You  should  take  a  class  in  the  Sabbath- 
school,  or  engage  in  some  similar  active  walk 
of  usefulness.  I  once  asked  a  veteran  teacher 
what  her  success  had  been.  She  told  me, 
that  of  thirty  scholars  all  were  in  the  church, 
or  in  heaven,  but  one;  and  that  one  was 
prevented  from  joining  the  church  by  her 
father.  A  class  of  thirty,  and  all  pious  ! 
What  an  encouragement  to  faithful  teachers  ! 

Remember  the  domestics.  It  is  too  often 
forgotten  that  they  have  souls.  But  you 
must  instruct  them  with  judgment  and  pa- 
tience. Keep  their  interest  awake.  A  little 
at  a  time,  and  often  repeated,  is  the  secret  of 
success.  They  must  be  fed,  not  crammed. 
The  same  advice  applies  to  younger  brothers 
and  sisters.  Never  show  them  an  appearance 
of  ill  humour. 

Opportunity  is  duty.  "  Our  opportunities 
to  do  good,"  says  Cotton  Mather,  ^'are  our 
talents."  I  wish  you  could  read  Mather's 
*' Essays  to  do  good."  Dr.  Franklin  acknow- 
ledged himself  greatly  indebted  to  them. 
Abbott's  "  Way  to  do  good,"  will  richly  re- 
pay a  perusal.      If  you  look  into  the  life  of 


DOING    GOOD.  83 

Henry  Martjn,  you  will  find  him  sometimes 
reproaching  himself  that  he  had  not  given  a 
tract  on  the  river  bank,  or  improved  some  oc- 
casion of  speaking  to  the  heathen.  Our  sins 
of  omission  ought  to  trouble  us  a  great  deal 
more  than  they  do.  I  once  visited  a  dying 
statesman,  who  had  been  prominent  in  the 
councils  of  his  country.  As  I  attempted  to 
unfold  the  encouragements  with  which  the 
Scriptures  abound,  he  interrupted  me  with 
the  exclamation,  "  But  oh,  my  omissions !"  my 
omissions!''  This  was  the  burden  that  lay 
heavy  on  his  soul.  How  acquitted  and  re- 
lieved conscience  feels  when  we  have  done 
our  duty  !  Kings  might  envy  the  happiness. 
"  Do  good  unto  all  men,  as  you  have  oppor- 
tunity."' 


LETTER  XII. 


ON   JESUS   ONLY. 


Jesus  in  the  Pulpit — in  Redemption — Feelings  not  to  be 
put  in  the  place  of  Christ — Comfoi't  wanted  without 
Christ  —  Ordinances  —  Forms  —  Duties  —  Troubles  — 
Death — Meditations  of  heaven. 

My  Dear  Friend — Like  the  disciples  on 
the  holy  mount,  you  should  see  "  Jesus  only." 

Ministers  should  present  Jesus  only  in  their 
preaching.  But  you  may  say,  "  What  have  I 
to  do  with  that  ?  I  am  one  of  the  laity." 
You  have  a  great  deal  to  do  with  it.  Let 
ministers  fall  into  a  cold,  dry,  slipshod,  unedi- 
fying,  or  aiFected  way  of  preaching ;  let 
them  lecture  on  politics,  or  ethics,  or  criti- 
cism, or  mere  matters  of  taste  ;  let  them  turn 
the  house  of  God  into  a  sort  of  forum,  or 
Sunday  opera  ;  without  leading  the  minds  and 
hearts  of  their  hearers  to  Jesus  Christ  and 
his  salvation ;  whose  souls,  allow  me  to  ask 
(84)  , 


JESU30NLY.  85 

you,  will  suffer  ?  Keep  the  ministers  of 
Christ,  I  warn  and  charge  you,  on  your  heart 
and  in  your  prayers,  for  your  own  sake,  and 
for  the  everlasting  welfare  of  others  as  well 
as  yourself. 

In  the  work  of  redemption  you  should  see 
"  Jesus  only."  Sinners  hide  behind  the  per- 
verted doctrines  of  man's  inability  and  God's 
sovereignty.  They  say  they  must  wait  God's 
time ;  they  pretend  that  they  are  using  the 
means ;  they  pray  for  a  new  heart ;  they  try 
to  repent ;  they  lean  on  or  imitate  the  expe- 
rience of  somebody  el^e;  they  trust  to  the 
prayers  of  pious  relatives,  a  godly  grandmo- 
ther Lois,  or  a  devout  mother  Eunice,  for  in- 
stance. They  read  the  Bible  and  good  books  ; 
they  think  they  are  in  a  very  good  way ;  they 
break  off  from  some  sins,  like  Herod,  and 
hear  searching  preaching  gladly ;  they  hope 
that  if  they  do  what  they  can,  God  will  over- 
look the  rest.  They  cling  to  anything  in  order 
to  evade  the  direct  and  immediate  duty  of 
submitting  to  God,  receiving  Christ,  and  yield- 
ing to  the  appropriate  influences  of  the  gospel. 

Inquirers  sometimes  put  their  feelings  in 
8 


86  JESUSONLT. 

tlie  place  of  Christ.  They  imagine  that  they 
do  not  feel  enough,  and  if  they  could  only 
feel  as  much  as  some  one  else  appears  to  have 
done,  they  will  have  reached  the  precise  point 
at  which  God  may  find  it  consistent  to  bless 
them.  This  is  something  quite  independent 
of  the  atonement  of  Christ.  It  is  nothing  else 
than  working  up  the  feelings  to  a  certain  re- 
quired pitch,  so  as  to  feel  justified  in  coming 
to  the  table  of  the  Lord. 

Others  commit  the  mistake  of  wanting 
comfort  without  Christ.  It  is  not  "Jesus 
only,"  but  Jesus  with  his  rich  stores  of 
various  blessings  that  they  covet,  while  they 
are  reluctant  to  embrace  the  Saviour  himself, 
and  for  himself.  What  would  the  young  wo- 
man  say  to  the  suitor,  who  should  confess  that 
he  longed  to  possess  her  dowry,  but  consid- 
ered the  owner  an  incumbrance  ?  Be  ashamed 
of  the  selfishness  that  wants  Je'sus  for  his 
treasure  alone,  and  not  for  himself;  Jesus, 
the  most  lovely  and  admirable  object  in  the 
world ;  Jesus,  who  deserves  to  be  loved,  though 
he  should  come  with  both  hands  empty.  Be- 
cause you  do  not  find  comfort  as  soon  as  you 


JESUSONLY.  87 

expected,  will  jou  therefore  go  away,  and 
give  up  your  serious  thoughts,  and  say,  "  It 
is  of  no  use  to  try  ?"  While  you  are  com- 
plaining, "  Oh,  that  I  could  enjoy  religion  !" 
where  is  your  sense  of  guilt  ?  Cease  to  look 
at  yourself  as  a  poor  unfortunate  sufferer, 
and  look  on  yourself  as  a  justly  condemned 
sinner.  Look  upon  Christ  as  holding  your 
pardon  in  his  hands ;  fly  to  him,  make  no 
reserves,  take  his  yoke,  and  bear  his  burden. 
That  is  your  present  and  urgent  duty. 

"We  should  see  "Jesus  only"  in  the  ordi- 
nances. It  is  our  duty  to  read,  to  pray,  to 
go  to  church,  to  receive  the  sacraments,  to 
avail  ourselves  of  the  services  of  the  minis- 
ters of  Christ ;  but  we  are  to  avoid  depend- 
ing on  the  use  of  these  means  of  grace  as  if 
it  were  meritorious.  Like  the  simple  altar  of 
stone  on  which  no  tool  was  to  be  lifted,  on 
peril  of  polluting  it,  Ex.  xx.  25,  Christ's 
work  is  complete ;  we  cannot  add  to  it,  nor 
improve  upon  it.  He  has  done  all  ;  there  is 
nothing  left  for  us  to  do  but  to  receive  the 
benefits  of  his  merits,  mediation,  and  inter- 
cession with  simple  and  childlike  faith. 


88  JESUSONLY. 

There  is  a  tendency  to  allow  religion  to  de- 
generate into  a  matter  of  form.  Nor  does 
the  simplicity  of  the  form  serve  as  a  sufficient 
safeguard.  These  forms  grow  stiif  and  stere- 
otyped, and  the  heart  ossifies  beneath  their 
tight  constriction.  Human  nature  is  always 
under  a  temptation  to  substitute  something 
human  in  the  place  of  Christ,  and  to  depend 
on  some  meritorious,  sacramental,  or  sacerdo- 
tal medium ;  forgetting  that  "  other  foundation 
can  no  man  lay  than  what  is  laid."  Not  even 
priestly  intervention  is  admissible  between 
God  and  the  soul.  "  Christ  is  all,  and  in 
all." 

"  Jesus  only"  is  to  be  the  life  of  our  duties. 
*' To  live  is  Christ."  Our  strength  comes 
through  him,  and  love  to  him  is  the  reigning 
motive  of  all  our  actions.  A  new  motive  is 
thus  superadded  even  to  the  ordinary  rela- 
tions of  life.  The  husband  is  the  head  of 
the  wife,  even  as  Christ  is  the  head  of  the 
church ;  and  husbands  are  to  love  their 
wives,  even  as  Christ  also  loved  the  church. 
Children  are  to  obey  their  parents  in  the  Lord ; 
and  parents  are  to  bring  up  their  children  in 


JESUSONLY.  89 

his  nurture  and  admonition.  Servants  are  to 
be  the  servants  of  Christ ;  and  masters  are 
to  remember  that  they  have  a  Master  in  hea- 
ven. Churches  are  to  know  them  that  are 
over  them  in  the  Lord ;  and  ministers  are 
their  servants  for  Jesus'  sake.  Thus  you  see 
that  Christ  is  the  alpha  and  omega,  the  be- 
ginning and  the  ending,  even  of  our  religious 
duties. 

We  should  have  recourse  to  "  Jesus  only'* 
in  our  troubles.  Like  the  disciples  of  John 
the  Baptist,  if  bereft  of  our  staff  and  stay,  we 
should  put  ourselves  under  the  protection  of 
the  cross,  and  go  and  "tell  Jesus."  He  will 
whisper,  "Fear  not,  it  is  I."  Peter  saw  his 
Lord  walking  on  the  water,  and  threw  him- 
self into  the  sea  to  go  to  him.  But  when  he 
found  the  billows  tumbling  in  upon  him,  and 
their  noise  stunning  his  ear,  he  thought  only 
of  the  danger,  and  forgot  to  look  at  the  Sa- 
viour. That  moment  he  began  to  sink.  Then 
alarmed  at  his  situation,  he  once  again  looked 
to  Christ,  and  with  the  despair  of  a  drown- 
ing man,  cried  "  Save,  Lord,  or  I  perish  1" 
Christ  extended  his  hand,  and  sustained  him, 
8* 


90  JESUSONLY. 

rebuking  him  for  his  little  faith.  The  moment 
he  looked  to  Christ,  he  rose  buoyant  a^ain 
eibove  the  waves. 

In  the  closing  hour  we  should  see  "  Jesus 
only."  That  is  no  time  for  ingenious  specu- 
lation, subtle  distinctions,  and  elaborate  argu- 
ments ;  what  the  dying  man  wants  is  the  repose 
of  faith.  What  he  wants  is  to  be  able  to  say 
with  Stephen,  "  Lord  Jesus,  receive  my  spi- 
rit!"  He  wants  to  feel  the  everlasting  arms 
underneath  him,  and  to  stay  himself  upon 
the  promises. 

"Jesus  can  make  a  dying  bed 
Feel  soft  as  downy  pillows  are  ; 
While  on  his  breast  I  lean  my  head, 
And  breathe  my  life  out  sweetly  there.'' 

"  Jesus  only"  should  be  the  prominent  ob- 
ject in  our  meditations  of  heaven.  "  Absent 
from  the  body,  present  with  the  Lord."  The 
glorified  Lamb  occupies  "the  midst  of  the 
throne."  The  astonished  seer  beheld  no  sun 
there,  for  the  Lamb  was  the  light  thereof. 
Neither  was  there  any  temple,  for  the  Lord 
God  Almighty  and  the  Lamb  are  the  temple 


JESUSONLY.  91 

of  it.  And  the  fountain  of  the  river  of  life 
proceeded  out  of  the  throne  of  God  and  the 
Lamb.  If  Jesus  be  absent,  paradise  wouhl 
be  shorn  of  its  splendour,  its  harps  "would 
thrill  in  vain,  and  its  fragrant  odours  lose  half 
their  sweetness.  In  life,  in  death,  on  earth, 
and  in  heaven,  the  wish  of  the  Christian's 
heart  is  Jesus,  and  "Jesus  only." 

*'  Jesus  only 
Can  do  helpless  sinners  good.^' 


THE    END. 


